Trans women trying to flee Ukraine are expelled

It has been a month since Russian forces invaded Ukraine, forcing millions of refugees to cross their borders and seek refuge in neighboring countries. Poland. However, there are different categories of citizens reported are denied Exit – namely men, transgender women and non-binary people. This leaves the last two categories particularly vulnerable during a war in a region of the world that no longer tolerates their existence.

In February, the Ukraine State Border Guard Service announced that men between 18 and 60 years of age were banned from the country. But in recent weeks, as women and children flee the country en masse every day, dozens of trans and non-binary people have said they are being subjected to extensive and “emergency” searches and are eventually being thrown out by border agents. Men, despite their legal status, stated otherwise. Eng Fra said a guard told her she was grateful he did not call police after he fired her, even though the documents she showed him identified her as a woman.

For those trans women who still have documentation identifying them as male or including their dead name, some human rights groups have advised them “Losing their IDs” to flee, or they are imprisoned in the deadly war.

At present, many trans- and non-binary people who have remained in the country continue to live together with other citizens for fear of losing their lives. They are increasingly fearing that it is nowhere safe to go, due to the contempt for LGBTQ + people, not only in Ukraine and Russia, but also in neighboring countries, where many have already found refuge.

Their worries are not unfounded. According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Ukraine is on the 39th of the 49 European countries for its general treatment of LGBTQ + people. Homosexual marriage still exists illegal in Ukraine, because the Christian Orthodox Church considers homosexuality to be a sin, and apart from a 2015 labor law changed to ban discrimination against LGBTQ + people in the workplace, there are actually very few protections – especially for trans people in the country. While trans became citizens legally recognized since 2017, they are required make psychiatric observation among other processes before their gender can be changed on formal documents.

As for Russia, Putin has always been Vocal Anti-LGBTQ +even call sex fluidity “Crime against humanity” in the equalize Homosexuality with pedophilia. Also across the border in Poland, where flocks of Ukrainians were seeking security, “Anti-LGBTQ + Zones” introduced throughout the country.

Many trans and non-binary people say they are worried that it is only a matter of time before Russian soldiers resort to violence or torture. The Washington Post reported late last month that according to the UN, Russians forced “LGBTQI + people” included on lists of Ukrainians “to be killed or sent to the camp after a military occupation.”