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LGBT Film Event Disrupted By Nationalists In Ukraine


Ukrainian LGBT activist Olena Shevchenko
Ukrainian LGBT activist Olena Shevchenko

KYIV -- A group of nationalists has violently interrupted an LGBT film event in western Ukraine, an activist says.

Olena Shevchenko, an activist for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, wrote on Facebook that police did "nothing" to prevent the group of right-wing Azov and Pravy Sektor battalion members from disturbing the October 18 event in the city of Chernivtsi.

Pictures shared on social media show some members wearing masks and rubber gloves, while others wore military fatigues.

Contacted by RFE/RL on October 19, Shevchenko said the nationalists were around 50 in number.

She also said two men -- one Ukrainian and one German -- suffered light injuries after being attacked by Azov members.

Around 20 people had come to the venue to watch the 2015 documentary film "This is Gay Propaganda."

Directed by a Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker, it follows the progress of the Euromaidan revolution and the conflict in eastern Ukraine through interviews with members of Ukraine's LGBT community.

LGBT advocates say the community is being ignored by Ukraine's pro-Western government as homophobic attacks continue.

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