“I defend Ukraine, so everyone has equal rights.”

_{Photo: Khrystyna Pashkina}

Max has been serving since 2018 — joined the army as soon as he turned 18. Right after training ended, he went to the east of Ukraine with his unit. His contract expired a few months before the full-scale invasion started, but on 25 February, he went to the military commissariat. At first, he used to do clerical work, but over time, he was transferred to a liaison service.

​​“I was 6–7 years old, I was going to the store and saw a serviceman — maybe the sun was so bright, but his uniform seemed to glow. I really liked the uniform — I immediately decided that I would serve in the army. I resigned from the contract service, but I am a military officer, it is my duty to defend the country. There were no questions about whether to go or not.”

Max says he is very lucky with the current battalion. Both the command and his comrades accept him as he is — they treat him well. However, before the full-scale invasion, he fully experienced homophobia.

“In my first unit, the division commander did not like me — he picked on me, reprimanded me for anything. In the new battalion, everything is different: they immediately asked how to properly address me, and the platoon commander said: “If you don't like being called Anhelina, you will be Max”. The main thing here for everyone is how I do my job.”

Max feels comfortable in the army now, but the events back home are very disturbing — homophobic organizations continue to harass and bully the LGBTQ+ community, including the military. They involve teenagers, setting them up against their fellow citizens, when we all have one common enemy now.

In addition, Max resents the delay of the draft law on civil partnerships. As the coordinator of the "Posestry" (comrade sisters) chat from the NGO “LGBTIQ+ Military”, he knows first-hand how necessary legal support is for those soldiers who are in a relationship.

However, legal status is necessary not only for military personnel, but also for civilians. Max says that there are many among his friends who have lived together for years, have children, property, but the state does not consider them a family. They all need a registered partnership, because the danger is not only at the frontline — the whole country is in danger.

“We want the state to take a step towards us, so that we can build relationships, so that we can get a document that our partners are not strangers to us. The civil partnership law is needed. So that we can understand that it is not for nothing that we protect this country — the country also protects us.”

_{The information campaign was created by Різні.Рівні and ХарківПрайд in support of об’єднання ЛГБТК+ військових for the RFSL.}