19th Century ‘Friendships’ to 90s Drag: Eastern Queerope Returns
Exploring queer history and culture across Central and Eastern Europe
5 October 2025
A Sworn Virgin in Mirdita with her friend. Photograph taken by Carleton S. Coon during his 1929 expedition to northern Albania
We’re back with more stories.
This collection takes you through centuries of queer life in Eastern and Central Europe. There are 19th-century letters between friends that feel like something more. Ukraine’s first Pride in 2013. A Czechoslovak activist who dedicated his life to fighting for decriminalization. A filmmaker whose boundary-crossing art got him thrown into a labor camp. Sworn virgins who lived as men in the patriarchal Balkans. Polish queer communities in the 90s — not just in big cities, but thriving everywhere. And so much more that was hidden or erased.
We’re still working with limited sources, doing our best to be accurate. As always, feel free to criticize, correct us, and share your thoughts.
The first two series of Eastern Queerope publications are available here and here.
Tomasz Zan and his letters to Leonard Chodźko
Ukraine’s first Pride parade
What queer theatre in Estonia reveals
Imrich Matyáš
Sworn virgins of the Balkans
The Fairy Triangle
Karol Szymanowski
Polish queer small city life in the ’90s
Queer colonial Minsk of the 1950s
The beauty of Sarkis Parajanian’s movies
The story of Mikołaj Turkowiecki and Stanisław Skrzypczyk
HIV and AIDS crisis in Poland
Read more articles from the Issue
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Criminalized and Invisible: The Long Fight of Queer Ukrainians
Published on Ukrainska Pravda
From Soviet-era criminalization and secrecy to today’s struggle for equality – discover the hidden history and resilience of queer Ukrainians in their fight for visibility, rights, and dignity.
Conversion Practices in Germany: Violence in the Name of God
Published on taz
Queer people seek protection—and experience coercion. They are supposed to be cured in church care or therapy. The belief in this continues to this day.
“There is a lot of shame in our community”
Published on Das.Hip on YouTube
Artist-researcher Ula reflects on shame, embodiment, and the Belarusian queer protest movement, in a short documentary.
How Ukraine’s Queer Artists and Activists are Safeguarding LGBTQIA+ Memory in Wartime
Published on GayTimes Magazine
From frontline photography to diaries, queer creators use art to safeguard history against Russian disinformation.
Eastern Queerope Belarus: Stories of Resistance, Repression, and Cultural Renewal
Published on Eastern Queerope
A new podcast that looks at Belarus’s queer past: medieval sexuality, Soviet persecution, activism, theatre, and the evolving struggle for visibility and rights.
Homophobia at the Core of Putinism’s Ideology
Published on Spilne / Commons
Lacking a coherent moral framework, the Kremlin weaponizes anti-queer rhetoric. An analysis of historical roots, Nazi parallels, and how hate justifies the war.
Strange Embrace: Paradoxes of Homosexual Desire in the Third Reich
Published on Gasp Magazine
This feature on homosexual desire, Nazi masculinity, and fascist aesthetics, documents how Nazi Germany weaponised homophobia, homonationalism and male comradeship, and why it still matters.
Beauty as a Shelter: Ukrainian Women Rebuild Their Lives in Bucharest’s Salons
Published on Scena 9
In the middle of a war beauty might seem trivial. For the Ukrainian women who run Bucharest’s salons, it’s a language of resilience, work, and home.
Angels from the East
Published on GPress.info
How trans* art, drag, and queer performance shaped Ukraine, Belarus & Moldova from the 1990s onward, revealing vibrant cultures defying post-Soviet repression.
Passing the Paintbrush: Historic Queer Jewish Artists in Berlin
Published on Friends of Dora
A documentary project highlighting the lives, histories, and legacies of queer Jewish artists in Berlin, with new podcast episodes released across major platforms.
Searching for Oneself at Random: How LGBTQI+ Communities Emerged in the Donetsk Region, 1991-2014
Published on Vilne Radio
From decriminalization to war and displacement, this article traces how queer people in Ukraine’s Donetsk region built communities and engaged in activism.
“I Have Nothing to Hide”
Published on taz
Lulla la Polaca shaped Warsaw’s queer scene. Her career as a drag queen started when she was in her seventies. A meeting in the Polish capital.
When We Stopped Hating Ourselves: Gay Life Under Persecution In Poland And Germany
Published on Tagesspiegel, Oko.press
Despite post-war persecution in Germany and surveillance in Poland, gay men answered state oppression with solidarity, secretly building the movements we know today.
How Queer Soldiers Shape Ukraine’s Defense And Future
Published on NV.ua
As Ukraine's queer soldiers risk their lives, they navigate a paradox: growing public acceptance alongside laws that still deny their partners basic rights in case of injury or death.
Unsafe in The Country of Origin
Published on taz
Fagatta, Adora, and Nia fled Georgia to escape violence and discrimination because of their gender identity. But because German authorities do not believe them, they are facing deportation.
The Bible, Putin, AfD: Four Misanthropic Myths to Abandon
Published on Perspective Daily
Anti-queer disinformation has a long tradition. Here’s why it catches on and how we can counter it.
Queer Resistance in Ukraine: Between War and Disinformation
Published on Deine Korrespondentin
Russia weaponizes anti-LGBTIQ+ narratives to justify its invasion of Ukraine, depicting the country as morally corrupt. Yet Ukrainian activists fight back, slowly shifting public opinion despite war and disinformation.
No Safe Place
Published on Tagebuch
Many queer refugees are at an impasse: unsafe in their homelands, unacknowledged in exile. These two stories explore the realities between hope and political failure.
“A Place You Can Always Come To”: Shaping Polish Diasporic Queer Communities in Germany
Published on Milk
Polish LGBTQIAP+ migrants in Germany have built communities for decades through art, activism, and mutual support, creating spaces of belonging while confronting homophobia at home and abroad.
Asylum Discourse: What Are “Safe” Countries of Origin for Queers?
Published on Siegessäule
Germany calls Georgia and Hungary "safe" for LGBTIQ+ people seeking asylum. But activists from both countries tell a different story – one of criminalized pride symbols and vanishing healthcare.
Queer Fronts
Published on Kontext Wochenzeitung
Alice Weidel resolves the paradox of being a chairwoman of the queer-hostile AfD by distinguishing between ‘homosexual’ and ‘queer’. Divisions are also opening up within the queer community.
Moving Stories: LGBTQIA+ Ukrainian Refugees
Published on Oko.press
Interviews with queer Ukrainians who fled the war document their experiences of displacement, coming to terms with identity, finding a community abroad.
Beyond the Binary
Published on Blog der Republik
From 19th century queer writing to contemporary activism, a look at how trans, genderqueer and lesbian people lived and organized in Central Europe across two centuries.
Queer Rights and Marriage Equality Under War, Authoritarianism, and Democracy
Published on Gender in Detail
How three former Sovietized states took different paths on marriage equality and LGBTIQ+ rights: a study of Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia.
Gaps in Remembrance – Queer Biographies during National Socialism
Published on freie-radios.net
Queer survivors of Nazi persecution could not speak openly about their experiences for decades. This German audio piece is a search for clues.
Queer and Trans People Have Always Been Here. These Are Their Stories
Published on Oko.press, Siegessäule
How do the past biographies connect with the experiences of trans people today?
New Stories from Eastern Queerope
Published on Instagram
More stories about queer personalities and culture of Eastern and Central Europe
The Prisoners with the Pink Triangle
Published on Publik-Forum, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
Among the millions of people murdered by the Nazis were thousands of gay men. For a long time, there was no commemoration of them or other queer victims.
Queerly Beloved: Romani Resistance Through the Ages
Published on taz
Six podcast episodes explore the history of the Roma and Sinti with a focus on activism, resistance, and the fight for equality and justice.
Intertwined Queer Stories: First LGBTIQ+ Museum in Eastern Europe
Published on taz
The QueerMuzeum has opened in Warsaw. It tells of pride, joy and sex, but also of stigmatisation and persecution.
“The Smaller the Settlement, the Greater the Influence of Religion”: Belarusian Trans Non-Binary Activist in Poland
Published on Nash Vybir
Ray shares its journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance and struggle for queer rights
Queer Holocaust Voices – the Price of Silence
Published on Hukanne
For decades after 1945, queer Holocaust survivors couldn't tell their stories. Their testimonies are only now being discovered and analyzed.
Forgotten Stories of Eastern European Queer Heroes
Published on Instagram
Stories of people who were lacking remembrance and acknowledgment. Sometimes unintentionally, but more often purposefully.
“I Accept Myself with All My Features”: Ukrainian Queer Person and Her Identity in Catholic Poland
Published on Nash Vybir
Natalia presents a different, more down-to-earth perspective on queer Ukrainians in Poland.
Belarusian on Bisexuality, Theatre and Emigration
Published on Das.Hip
A documentary short about Palina, an actress, director, and singer from Minsk, Belarus.
Shelters, Help and Support: How Uzhhorod Became a New Home for Queer People
Published on Hromadske
When the full-scale war began, Uzhhorod became a critical hub offering displaced queer Ukrainians both emergency shelter and ongoing support services that continue transforming lives today.
Diversity in Brandenburg: Queers Take a Stand
Published on taz
A memorial for gay prisoners murdered in Sachsenhausen coincided with a Pride in nearby Oranienburg, uniting commemoration with celebration of present-day queer life.
Being Yourself. How Kharkiv’s LGBTQI Community Fights for Their Rights
Published on Hromadske
A report on queer representation in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, on Prides and aid in times of war
Queer in One of Most Catholic Countries in Europe: Stimulus or Hindrance?
Published on Nash Vybir
Stereotypes suggest that Catholicism complicates the presence and activities of queer movements in Poland. Is this truly the case?
How Queer People Live in Frontline City: Report from Zaporizhzhia
Published on Hromadske
Zaporizhzhia's queer community navigates war while building resilience through mutual support and advocacy, just 50 kilometers from the frontlines.