PRIDE IS NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR REGION

June 2022, Kyiv – UKRAINEPRIDE NGO, a propatriotic queer movement aimed at the protection and education of Ukrainian cultural self-identification, has formed an alliance with the largest inclusive LGBTQIA+ dating app Taimi. Together, we have created a social video project in honor of International Pride Month –  “PRIDE IS NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR REGION.”

Last year, LGBTIQ activists held a “Rave Pride'' party outside the Ukrainian president’s office. The purpose of the event was to draw public attention to the safety of LGBTQIA+ people, the arbitrariness of the police, the lack of investigation into past crimes of radical groups against the community, as well as Kyiv’s electronic scene. “Rave Pride” was organized by UKRAINEPRIDE and was supposed to become an annual event.

But the war has changed everything. This year’s “Rave Pride” has literally become “unavailable.” This is because all participants in the event now actively defend Ukraine in the war against russia. And real stories of these defenders have become the basis of a new social video project launched by UKRAINEPRIDE.

Yura Dvizhon, creative director of UKRAINEPRIDE and the film’s director, tells how he came up with the video idea: “When I came back to Kyiv after two months in the war, I was nostalgic about last summer and our ‘pride’. I remembered all those bright moments that I experienced during last year’s rave. And I wanted to visualize them and also show what our queer community is doing now. Some community members work as doctors, some volunteer, and some fight at the front line. LGBTQ people are part of the great victory that awaits Ukraine in the near future.”

An important aim of the project is to show to international society how war has influenced Ukraine, how our battle is going now, and how we see our future, in which many more pride raves will take place.

“We feel how much the Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ community now needs its voice to be heard. Now, during Pride Month, when the whole world is fighting for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, members of the Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ community are fighting for their lives, their land, and the democratic values of any modern state. Ukrainian free society should be able to develop at home without any authoritarian influence and imposition of values by other countries. That is why today we must unite in a common struggle and raise international awareness of the devastating effects of this war on LGBTQIA+ people.” – Yana Andyol, head of communications for Taimi.

And although Pride in Ukraine has always been held under the supervision of the National Guard and the police, in recent years, Ukraine has become a shelter and home for many LGBTQ people from all over the post-Soviet space (Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus, russia), Europeans, and all free people of this world. 

Film Credits

Director: Yura Dvizhon

Literary editor: Sofia Lapina

Producer: Valeria Otchenash

1 AD: Anton Ganichev, Vitalii Zelenyi

DOP: Borya Borisov

Focus Puller/1AC: Sergey Zakrevsky

Grips/electricians: Vladislav Penkov, Bogdan Gaidash

Technical truck: Alexander Starostenko

Style: Yaroslav Iliyn

MUA: Jenn Zenn, Vadym Kravchenko

MUAH: Kateryna Rohovska

Hair artists: Dariia Pasichnichenko, Lera Gornostay

Actors: Arthur Vovchenko, Anton Ganichev, Anna Ustinova, Alem Elina, Oleksander Kosiakov, Marysia, Mariia Ashera, Pavlo Fedchenko, Oliver Popov, Mykyta Bay, Anastasia Soroka

Crowd scene actors: Harik Marushchak, Sergey Tok, Anton Obukhivskyi, Nika Lykova, Denys Tretiachenko

DJ - Vladyslav Kurilko

Voice acting: Viktoriia Shchegel, Anna Trotsko, Stanislav Shcherbak, Vitalii Zelenyi, Kate Belinskaya, Anna Romanova, Pavlo Logvin

Translator: Yurii Vitiak

Edit: Pavlo Kovtun

CG: Marina Tkachenko

Sound Design: ‘4ears sound’, Mykhailo Zakutskyi

MUSIC: Koloah ‘Millennium sun’

Photographer: Kostiantyn Bibliuk

Technical support: Patriot Rental

Production company: Magnit Production

Special thanks:

• Svitlana Levchenko - Art Director of ‘Avangarden’ gallery & wine bar

• ‘Avangarden’ volunteer team

• ‘Harmony of Health’ Medical Network

• Kvach Mykola Dmytrovych - Chief physician of ‘Harmony of Health’

• Maria Zayets

• Anhelina Borodina

• Anastasia Chubenko

• Yaroslav Pleskach

• Serhiy Tsibulsky

About UKRAINEPRIDE NGO

UKRAINEPRIDE NGO is a propatriotic queer movement – we defend and nurture our cultural identity and share it with our counterparts from different countries, ethnicities, skin colors, or religions. We preserve and protect our culture so we can share it with the whole world.

The whole UKRAINEPRIDE NGO team remains in Ukraine during these dangerous times. Having the experience of participation and direct organization of the Revolution of Dignity, we are at the stage of mobilization and coordination of our community in joining military operations, resistance movements, local self-defense, volunteering, and other activities until we are victorious.

In our activities, we always unite with the most reliable partner - in this case with the Ukrainian LGBTQ military – courageous people who have sworn allegiance to Ukraine and all Ukrainian people and with whom we went through the Revolution of Dignity side by side. About 150 of them are already on the front lines of military defense.

Eight years ago, Ukraine took the opposite direction from imperial russia and allowed the LGBTQ+ community to gain equal rights. We fear nothing. We are defending our beloved land. Glory to Ukraine and glory to our resistance Heroes!

SOCIAL MEDIA: @ukraine.pride

HOW TO DONATE: https://www.ukrainepride.org/

About Taimi 

Taimi is the largest, fully inclusive LGBQIA+ dating app. It is carefully designed so that you can explore your sexuality and passion. We and our users believe that people find their attractions and matches in a sexually fluid environment with full freedom of choice. 

Download Taimi for free and start your queer journey today. 

Buy the XL subscription and expand your access. 

WEB: taimi.com

SOCIAL: @taimiapp

Creative Materials To Use

• Pride is not available in your region // Youtube Link

• Pride is not available in your region // Short Version

• BTS by Kostiantyn Bibliuk

• Rave Pride 2021 by Alexandra Barchuk

• Press Kit