Putin Is Showing Us What Homophobia Looks Like as a Weapon of War

March 15, 2024
The New York Times, March 15, 2022. Oleksii Polukhin’s 64 days in detention began when Russian soldiers stopped him at a checkpoint. They found that he’d been gathering information about Russian military positions to share with Ukrainian forces; they also discovered he was gay. Mr. Polukhin gave a detailed account of his detention to Projector, an […]
Read More

How Russia’s War Against Ukraine Is Advancing LGBTQ Rights

March 7, 2023
Originially published in Politico Magazine, March 7, 2022. KYIV — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Ukrainian society in many unexpected ways, but perhaps one of the most remarkable is how it has advanced the rights of LGBTQ people. On Tuesday, in a move that would have been nearly unthinkable a year ago, a Ukrainian […]
Read More

Gay Couple Struggles to Stay Together as War in Ukraine Rages On

June 22, 2022
Originally published by Rolling Stone, June 22, 2022. Russian bombs brought Stepan and Maxim together. Now Russian bombs have driven them apart. The men, now both in their early thirties, were living almost 20 miles apart in the eastern Ukrainian region called the Donbas, where Russian-backed separatists went to war in 2014. They likely would […]
Read More

Trans People Leaving Ukraine Face Danger and Transphobia. This Organization Is a Safe Haven.

June 1, 2022
Originally published by Teen Vogue, June 1, 2022. Olha Poliakova first realized something was wrong at 5:20 a.m. when her cat leapt from his usual sleeping spot on her shoulder. As Poliakova entered consciousness, she was vaguely aware of a loud boom outside. She thought a truck driver had taken a shortcut through her neighborhood. […]
Read More

“People Are Not Coming Back to the Closet”: The Fight for Ukraine Is Also a Fight for LGBTQ Rights

March 4, 2022
Vladimir Putin’s assault on LGBTQ rights made him a hero to the global far right and a pariah in Ukraine. As the invasion enters its second week, queer Ukrainians are fighting back. Portrait of Olena Shevchenko, courtesy of Olena Shevchenko. Posted originally in Vanity Fair, March 4, 2022. On the seventh day of the war, Olena […]
Read More

The Secret Battle To Save LGBT People From ISIS — And Bring Their Persecutors To Justice

June 24, 2019
One is the son of a communist who smuggled messages in kebabs for party members. The other is an army widow whose husband was killed by al-Qaeda. Together they want to convince the world that targeting LGBT people is a crime against humanity.
Read More

This Is How 23 Countries Feel About Transgender Rights

December 29, 2016
One-quarter of Americans say people should never be allowed to change their legal gender, half of Brazilians know a transgender person, and lots more from a BuzzFeed News/Ipsos survey in 23 countries around the world.
Read More

Why Iran’s Mullahs Bless Sex Reassignment

December 26, 2016
Iran has the death penalty for homosexuality but subsidizes sex reassignment surgery. BuzzFeed News looks at how Iran became a center of sex reassignment in the Middle East, and why many trans Iranians still find life impossible in the Islamic republic.
Read More

How An Online Love Affair Ended With A Trans Man Convicted Of Sexual Assault

October 14, 2016
Kyran Lee pleaded guilty to sexual assault after his girlfriend reported him to the police. This is one of several “gender fraud” cases in the UK that raise fundamental questions about identity and sexual consent.
Read More

How An LGBT Panic Led This Village To Plan An Exorcism In Indonesia

October 8, 2016
Andi was a dancer from an Indonesian village who believed his gift came from the spirit of a princess living inside him — then a national panic over homosexuality turned his world upside down. J. Lester Feder reports from Central Java province.
Read More
1 2 3 5
Copyright © 2020 J. Lester Feder
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram