20 August 2024, Kharkiv

As part of a technical visit to Kharkiv supported by UNAIDS, the communication team of the National LGBTI Consortium and ALLIANCE.GLOBAL met with Vasyl Malikov, co-chair of the Consortium and head of the NGO 'SPECTRUM KHARKIV'.

Kharkiv, located on the border with Russia, has become one of the cities most affected by active hostilities. Despite this, the local LGBTIQ+ community continues its important work. We spoke with Vasyl about the challenges, achievements and future of the LGBTIQ+ movement in this frontline city.

Vasyl, could you please tell us how long SPECTRUM KHARKIV has been in existence and what its main mission is?

The NGO ‘SPECTRUM KHARKIV’ was founded in May 2020. We joined the Consortium as early as July. Initially, we were an initiative group that received support from the Consortium. As we implemented projects, particularly with psychologists, we were already on friendly terms. That’s when we realised we were partners.

As for our mission… we are a regional organisation, so our mission is to take care of local LGBTIQ+ communities. The areas of activity of NGO “SPECTRUM KHARKIV” include:

• Educational work on SOGI issues, public health, non-discrimination and tolerance, both with LGBTIQ+ people and with professional groups (social workers, educators, healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, NGO staff and government and local self-government bodies)
• Humanitarian support for LGBTI communities and their loved ones: meeting basic needs in food, hygiene products, medicines, clothing, etc., referral to other NGOs for support.
• Visible participation in public actions and campaigns aimed at addressing socially significant issues.
• Participation in activities and support for initiatives of partner organisations whose activities are aimed at common or consonant goals and objectives with ours.

What are the biggest challenges facing LGBTIQ+ communities in Kharkiv today?

One of our main challenges is that a significant number of our volunteers have left Kharkiv due to the danger or have left activism, focusing on securing their own lives in these difficult times.

The security and socio-economic consequences of the invasion… It’s not just the war itself that is a challenge, but also how it has affected our city. Kharkiv is now a frontline city and faces a number of social problems, for example, regarding unemployment and a decline in the quality of services.

One of the challenges is working with partners. It’s difficult for us to explain why we can’t always meet deadlines or quickly provide proper, for example, purchases of quality goods or services for beneficiaries.

Tell us about your chapter’s most successful projects over the past year.

Our biggest achievement was opening a community centre in Kharkiv. It’s a large space, a single solid building. Here we can conduct several events in parallel. We have a psychologist working here, plus we provide the full range of services.

What forms of cooperation do you have with local authorities and other civil society organisations?

We cooperate within working groups, coalitions and coordination councils. For example, there’s a working group on coordinating the response to gender-based violence, the Kharkiv Region 1325 coalition, ‘WOMEN PEACE SECURITY’. We’re also trying to intensify the work of the regional coordination council on combating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

What initiatives are you planning to implement in the near future?

We plan to continue caring for LGBTIQ+ people. In particular, during the autumn-winter period. Like last year, we will join efforts with the consortium in Kharkiv to provide communities with a kind of ‘point of resilience’ based in this new community centre.

We will continue our socio-cultural and educational activities.

What advice would you give to young activists who want to get involved in human rights work for LGBTIQ+?

Act. Now is the right time for volunteering and activism within the community. After all, the most valuable support is people who care about other people. I urge you to come to us with your initiatives.

What unique approaches or methodologies does the Kharkiv chapter of the Consortium use in its work?

We are a relatively young organisation, but we continue our work despite all the difficulties. This is about democracy and horizontal connections, relying on volunteering. Our organisation was formed from an initiative group as part of the LGBTIQ+ community, and we continue to work in this way.

Tell us about your most successful partnerships. How do you build and maintain effective cooperation with other organisations?

One of our most successful partnerships is with AFEW International. We conducted a series of focus group studies for key communities in Kharkiv and the region on access to and quality of medical services as part of this.

Thanks to Doctors of the World and AFEW Ukraine, we were able to provide the local community with HIV and STI multi-tests and receive other humanitarian support for key communities in our city.

And thanks to VirusOFF, we have the ability to quickly respond to urgent humanitarian needs of those LGBTIQ+ people who find themselves in difficult life circumstances. But it’s important to us that the community itself learns to care for others and for themselves. And it’s great that we have this!

What resources or expertise does your chapter need most to expand its impact?

We understand perfectly well that organisational development is needed (this is about people, their development and team activities). But there’s not enough time and other resources for such development. This is also about team building.

We have quite informal cooperation within our activities. It’s a free association of activists, we don’t have a clear hierarchy or any corporate system. But I see that there’s a certain flaw in this, because when it comes to large project activities, a specific organisation is needed.

We are an organisation that has preserved democracy and freedom of action within itself. The free spirit of Kharkiv.

How do you assess the effectiveness of your projects? Do you have a system for monitoring and evaluating results?

We focus on feedback from the community itself and our partners.

What innovative ideas or projects would you like to implement if you had additional funding?

We once jokingly thought about creating our own place for restoring the resources of community activists and volunteers. But this intention was before the full-scale invasion, and now we’re unlikely to have the resources to implement it. Although such a place has become even more necessary and we haven’t abandoned the idea.

In autumn 2023, we went to a week-long camp, and it was for training, recovery and team building. We could use something like that.

How do you ensure the sustainability of your initiatives and their long-term impact?

We try to find partners who would agree to allocate resources to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs of LGBTIQ+ people.

Do you have experience in international cooperation? How do you see the potential for international partnerships?

We have had and continue to have projects supported by international organisations. These include VirusOFF, EVZ, AFEW.

Regarding potential: we recognise that currently, addressing issues urgent for LGBTIQ+ in the socio-humanitarian field, public health and socio-cultural development depends on the position and resources of international donors much more than on national agencies or authorities.

In this sense, the greatest potential lies in cooperation with international organisations, including in terms of organisational development.

In the future, local authorities should also get involved in solving the problems of local communities, including LGBTIQ+. For example, through budgeting for health services, or preferential rentals for organisations.

How do you attract and develop volunteers? What role do they play in the activities of the chapter?

They play an exceptional role in the activities of our chapter. Our main activities are provided by them. If you want to become a volunteer, please contact the organisation’s Spectrum Kharkiv page on Facebook.

What scalable practices or working models have you developed that could be applied in other regions?

We have developed methodologies for working with volunteers. For example, we held a camp for volunteers where we developed guiding principles for this area of activity. We created codes of volunteering in HIV prevention, human rights protection, etc.

What is your personal approach to work?

My life hack: I conduct events that I feel are valuable for myself as a community representative. And I see from the feedback of other people that these events are significant for them too, and our activities resonate within the community.

What stereotypes about LGBTIQ+ communities in Kharkiv do you most often have to debunk? How do you do this?

The primary stereotype is that LGBTIQ+ people don’t exist, or that they are an insignificant fraction. My presence at coalitions and events is primarily about increasing visibility.

Overcoming invisibility remains a serious challenge, because in reality, LGBTIQ+ people are actively working in the public sector, caring for vulnerable people, making their significant contribution to all sectors of the economy and the defence of our state.

But based on visibility, we also need to take care of issues of inclusivity in decision-making at the local level on all issues relating to LGBTIQ+ people. And therefore, developing mechanisms of inclusivity in socio-humanitarian work, public health and other socially significant areas is a common task of our organisations and international partners.

Are there topics or problems in LGBTIQ+ communities that you think are silenced or insufficiently discussed? Why?

In my opinion, almost all the issues we raised in this interview need additional coverage within our key communities. The message is not just that communities remain invisible, but that we cannot fully understand (due to lack of research and resources for it) the state of public health within communities, their needs.

What internal conflicts or disagreements exist in the LGBTIQ+ movement in Kharkiv? How do you work to overcome them?

They exist, but I’m convinced that disagreements and conflicts that may exist within the movement are normal. There’s a large community that has a wide range of needs, views, and methods of meeting these needs. In particular, socio-political views. These differences are about diversity within LGBTIQ+ communities, just as the diversity of Ukrainian society.

How do you respond to criticism of your activities from conservative groups? Do you try to engage in dialogue with them?

For me, these conservative movements are part of the diversity in the socio-political field of Ukraine. If they keep themselves within the framework of current legislation, then dialogue with them can be productive.

What compromises do you have to make in your work? Where do you draw the line between compromise and principles?

The biggest compromise is that you have to combine many different tasks in short time periods and prioritise on the go. The principle is that we continue to work for the benefit of LGBTIQ+ communities and the local community in very changeable conditions since 2020.

This is about the COVID-19 pandemic, full-scale invasion and its consequences.

Are there aspects that require more reflection?

In my opinion, all aspects of the work of a public organisation need reflection in order to improve. But this is most true of organisational development and team building.

Vasyl, you mentioned cooperation with ALLIANCE.GLOBAL. Could you please tell us more about this cooperation?

Yes, indeed, as part of our cooperation with ALLIANCE.GLOBAL, I manage the community centre for the LGBTIQ+ community in Kharkiv. This cooperation also ensures the operation of our free shelter for LGBTIQ+ people, their close ones and relatives. This is a very important area of our work, especially in conditions where many people have lost their homes due to hostilities.

How do you see the future of the LGBTIQ+ movement in Kharkiv and Ukraine in general?

Despite all the difficulties, I look to the future with optimism. We continue to work for the benefit of LGBTIQ+ communities and the local community in very changeable conditions since 2020. This is about the COVID-19 pandemic, and about the full-scale invasion and its consequences.

I believe that after our victory, Ukraine will become an even more open and tolerant country. We work for this every day. It’s important that local authorities become more involved in solving the problems of LGBTIQ+ communities as part of the city community, and that international partners continue to support us.

Our experience of working in crisis conditions can be useful for LGBTIQ+ organisations in other regions and countries. We are ready to share our developments and methodologies.

What would you like to say in conclusion of our conversation?

I want to thank everyone who supports our work – volunteers, partners, donors. Special thanks to the LGBTIQ+ community of Kharkiv for their resilience and mutual support.

I want to remind everyone: we exist, we are important, and we are doing great work. Anyone who wants to join our work – as a volunteer, partner or just a concerned person – can always contact us through our social media pages and through our work emails [in particular, through info@lgbti-consortium.org.ua].