In July 2015, Marina Lemischenko and Marina Kostetska left their home in the East of Ukraine, fleeing the armed conflict with Russian separatists. But unlike other displaced Ukrainians, the couple faced an additional challenge: discrimination as a lesbian couple. In Ukraine, the LGBT community has only skeletal legal protections that are not strongly enforced by the government.

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For others like the two Marinas, today’s social climate is a deep disappointment. Many LGBT Ukrainians protested in the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution to improve their country’s ties with Europe, remove a corrupt government allied closely with Russia, and initiate social and government rights reforms. But three years later, the LGBT community is left behind, still fighting for basic human rights.

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For International Business Times (IBT), February 2017. Full story here.