Help bring the stories of queer Ukrainians to the world.

Olha Polyakova in Gender Stream’s shelter for LGBTQ people near Ukraine’s Western border.

For queer people, visibility is power.

I've been interviewing and photographing LGBTQ Ukrainians since the earliest days of the Russian invasion, documenting the stories of soldiers, refugees, and survivors of war crimes. I’m writing this in September 2023, as I prepare to leave for another extended reporting trip to Ukraine, this time focused especially on documenting the stories of queer people who lived under Russian occupation.

Your subscription will help me complete a book and accompanying photo exhibit to bring these stories to the world. Along the way, I’ll share dispatches from the reporting and development process.

We've never had a war where so many LGBTQ people are willing to be out about their experiences. And they're fighting a power that has made homophobia an explicit weapon of war. The Queer Face of War will be the first documentary project showing how queer people can be especially vulnerable in conflict — and how they can feel particularly called to fight for their communities.

“It's very important to document this moment, and we don't have anyone else who’s doing it. This project is priceless.”

— Lenny Emson, Executive Director of Kyiv Pride & Transgender Europe.

Your help is critical as I continue my reporting and prepare to submit a proposal to publishers in the coming months. As publication approaches, I will also prepare an exhibition to take to multiple cities in the US and the EU.

Queer Ukrainians stories matter in Ukraine, and will be an inspiration around the world — from Uganda to Florida — where politicians are attacking queer people to undermine bedrock democratic principles.

Please subscribe to help me complete this work.

Lester

Subscribe to The Queer Face of War

Ukraine is the first country under siege that has so many queer people willing to publicly tell their stories and show their faces. The Queer Face of War captures their stories and portraits. For queer people, visibility is power.

People

J. Lester Feder

@jlfeder

I’m an award-winning journalist who's covered Ukraine’s LGBTQ movement and Russian homophobia for a decade. Former international LGBTQ correspondent for BuzzFeed News, work also appears in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Vanity Fair.