Visuals are here

According to the survey, LGBTQ+ communities are more likely to experience symptoms of depression and have a much higher stress rate because of discrimination in their families, universities, or at work. 95% of respondents report trouble sleeping at night and 77% feel depressed. 71% of LGBTQ+ youth report being sad or hopeless.

BetterMe and UKRAINEPRIDE are honored to launch an audio course LGBTQ+Me. Embracing Our Differences to unite people of different backgrounds, lifestyles, and mindsets and help them better understand each other. We are collecting personal stories of both LGBTQ+ and straight communities and will share advice from a mental health counselor on every story.

The personal stories are provided by Ukrainians who have lived the experience, which will be relevant to any LGBTQ+ person in any corner of the world.

With the main focus on deep internal feelings, struggles and experiences, our mental health experts will offer insights into the nature of these emotions and practical tips to deal with them in a healthy way.

In the last 30 years, Ukrainian society has changed its mindset from total intolerance to a non-discriminatory tendency towards queer people. According to the 2022 report by the Nash Svit Center under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, the issue of equality and protection of LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine is becoming increasingly important in both the domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine. The current war in Ukraine reveals even better that Ukrainians are united against any violence.

This project is aimed to help two groups:

• LGBTQ+ communities can contemplate issues and shared experiences that are common and stressful for different social groups;
• non-LGBTQ+ communities will have a chance to reflect on different situations that might have been challenging to understand.

Some topics covered:

1. Self-identification by Alem

We’ll tell stories about how people self-identified as queer, what they felt, and what difficulties they faced.

Alem is a journalist, as they said storyteller, they live in the USA and are queer, they are “someone who doesn’t live within strict labels”.

Their Instagram account is here.

1. Coming out by Yura

We’ll invite ****people to share coming-out stories and reactions to them.

Yura is a director, activist, and co-founder of UKRAINEPRIDE. He lives in Ukraine. He is gay, he remembers realizing his orientation when he was 4 years old.

His Instagram account is here.