Since my first trip to Ukraine more than a decade ago, I've watched queer Ukrainians fight a battle with global implications. They've worked to build an inclusive democracy where even the most marginalized have full rights as citizens. They've combated not only homophobia and transphobia at home, but also an increasingly autocratic Russia, where Vladimir Putin has persecuted LGBTQ+ people as a way to discredit democratic values.
Now Putin's playbook is being copied around the world—and Russia is hitting Ukraine with some of the most punishing bombardments of the war.
The stories in The Queer Face of War capture what's at stake in this moment, but getting them to the audiences who need to see them has become harder than ever. The global queer movement is in crisis.
Before Trump’s election, the US was the major funder of LGBTQ+ rights groups around the world. His foreign aid cuts created catastrophic shortfalls for dozens of organizations, including those I was hoping to partner with to share The Queer Face of War. Plans to collaborate with Ukrainian and European organizations on a traveling exhibition had to be abandoned. The human rights clinic where I worked while writing the book lost funding and laid me off.
The project is finding an audience despite these challenges.
I’m thrilled to announce an exhibition will open in Kyiv in June in partnership with Ukrainian organizations, and we're planning events in the US and EU in 2026. I’m also designing a toolkit to help volunteers mount exhibitions in public libraries and LGBTQ+ centers. But I still need to find the resources for travel, printing and exhibition costs, publicity, and support for Ukrainian partners. A realistic budget for launching the project in Ukraine, the US, and EU over the next year is around $40,000.
I'm pursuing grants to help cover that gap, but I'll need to raise a significant portion directly from individual supporters. Your contribution will help ensure these stories are seen.
I have a limited number of advance copies to send to US contributors who give $100 or more, but contributions of any size make a difference. A portion of what we raise will also support aid delivery to queer people and women in Ukraine.
Thank you for standing with this project.
Lester
