How to Help LGBTQ+ and Black Ukrainian Refugees

Here are organizations to support and simple ways to help during the ongoing refugee crisis.
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Ukrainian families fleeing the conflict in their country are seen walking with their luggage after crossing the Hungarian-Ukrainian border near Beregsurany, Hungary, some 300 km from the Hungarian capital on February 25, 2022, one day after Russia launched a military attack on neighbouring Ukraine. - As Ukraine braces for a feared Russian invasion, its EU member neighbours are making preparations for a possible influx of hundreds of thousands or even millions of refugees fleeing military action. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP) (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)ATTILA KISBENEDEK

 

Social media has been flooded with support for the people of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the sovereign eastern European nation last week. The ongoing military operation, which has already resulted in thousands of civilian and military casualties, has produced a massive refugee crisis that has driven roughly half a million civilians out of Ukraine as of Monday, according to the United Nations.

The growing crisis has also called attention to the fact that marginalized refugees face particular challenges that those who are more privileged don’t. Black Ukrainians have been faced with racism and xenophobia at the borders from Ukrainian border patrol, who are pushing so-called “Ukrainian first” policies. And LGBTQ+ Ukrainians fear increased repression from Russia, citing the country’s ban on gay marriage and anti LGBTQ+ “propaganda” law. LGBTQ+ Ukrainians who might flee to the neighboring nation of Poland are far from guaranteed safe reception, with anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments running rampant in the conservative, predominantly Catholic country.

Luckily, organizations from the grassroots to the international level are taking steps to protect refugees who face additional layers of danger. Read on for some concrete ways you can help, and organizations you can donate to that provide direct aid to displaced Ukrainians.

As a disclaimer: In times of immediate crisis, mass grassroots efforts tend to emerge overnight. While this is undoubtedly a good thing, and can often lead to people receiving aid much more quickly than if they had to deal with the bureaucracies that tend to come with large nonprofit organizations, it also means that there is the potential for bad actors to emerge and take advantage of people’s goodwill. That being said, you should do whatever research you can whenever you distribute funds, whether that’s looking up a nonprofit’s Form 990 or checking someone’s social media account to see if they’ve posted any receipts of how they’re using people’s money.

Boost the stories of Black refugees

Multiple reports have shown that not all refugees fleeing Ukraine are being treated equally — and namely, that Black refugees are being denied passage both out of Ukraine and into neighboring countries. According to Business Insider, Ukraine is home to thousands of students hailing from all over the African diaspora who come to the Eastern European country to study “medicine and other technical fields at affordable prices.” The Twitter hashtag #AfricansinUkraine has been flooded with footage, photos, and personal accounts of Black people being denied passage by Ukrainian border guards, due to supposed “Ukrainian-first” policies.

Korrine Sky, an organizer who has been helping coordinate resources for Afro-Carribean students fleeing Ukraine, shared a thread with ways to help. That includes a link to a GoFundMe run by Londoner Tokunbo Koiki, which will assist students with “funds for accommodation and flights when they get to Poland or to even get to some of the other cities in Ukraine that are currently consider safe.”

The Poland chapter of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation also has a page with resources for Black refugees.

Support grassroots efforts to house LGBTQ+ and BIPOC refugees

Polish activists Amanda Waliszewska, Joanna Wilkuse and Anaid are coordinating safe housing for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC refugees fleeing Ukraine via a Google form. Via their Instagram pages, they’re also sharing mutual aid calls for transportation needs and translators at the Polish border, and have shared resources for Nigerians and other Black migrants arriving in Poland. The organization Black is Polish is also working to coordinate safe housing for refugees via a crowdsourced spreadsheet.

Additionally, Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a historian specializing in Russian, Eastern European and Soviet history, has consolidated crowdsourced resources for marginalized refugees in a LinkTree.

Support the following organizations:
Insight Ukraine

Insight is a local LGBTQ+ organization that provides legal, psychological and medical support to queer and trans Ukrainians, among other forms of advocacy. In addition to connecting LGBTQ+ Ukrainians with crisis therapists, the organization is currently collecting funds “to cover needs in shelter, relocation to safer places, food, basic needs,” according to an Instagram post.

OutRight International

OutRight International is a global LGBTQ+ human rights organization headquartered in New York. It’s currently accepting donations on behalf of local LGBTQ+ organizations that are “preparing to receive LGBTIQ people in search of shelter, safety and security.” Since vetting the legitimacy of organizations that we might not be familiar with can prove challenging in times of crisis, OutRight could be a good choice to share funds with to ensure that aid will be going to organizations that need it.

“As we know all too well, in times of crisis, LGBTIQ people who are already marginalized face higher risks and cannot count automatically on access to humanitarian and/or social assistance,” the organization wrote on its donation page. “Already, people are leaving Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the eastern part of the country for, at the moment, safer rural areas and the western parts of the country, while neighboring EU countries work to prepare shelters for an influx of displaced people.”

At the time of publication, OutRight has raised $130,447 of its $150,000 goal.

QUA - LGBTQ Ukrainians in America

QUA is the first non-governmental organization of LGBTQ+ Ukrainians and their allies in the United States, according to the organization’s website. QUA provides social support and legal support to LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, as well as research on the state of LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine. The organization organized a march for LGBTQ+ Ukrainians at New York’s Stonewall Inn this past weekend, and is also connecting refugees with Americans who are willing to provide aid, ranging from housing to childcare to donations of menstrual hygiene products. You can also donate directly to QUA here, and the organization says that funds will be used for emergency support for the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ community.

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