Similar sentiments were expressed by “unicorn” troops who spoke to Reuters on Tuesday. “One of our aims is to expose the lies of Russian propaganda myths that claim Ukraine is being ruled by a ‘neo-Nazi junta.’ How could there be talk of neo-Nazis in an army that has gay-friendly units, and in which gay and lesbian active-duty and veteran service members can come out without fear?” Viktor Pylypenko, founder of a group called Ukrainian LGBT Soldiers, told DW in June 2021.Īs volunteer fighters Oleksandr Zhuhan and Antonina Romanova pack for a return to active duty, they contemplate the unicorn insignia that gives their uniform a rare distinction – a symbol of their status as an LGBTQ couple who are Ukrainian soldiers /eN0PdsNNAD Even then, gay Ukrainian troops thought identifying themselves could help counter Russian propaganda about fascists running Kyiv. Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) reported last summer that Ukrainian soldiers began coming out in greater numbers in 2018, including those deployed to fight Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Since there were supposedly no gay soldiers in the army, gays sarcastically chose the mythological unicorn as their symbol.
#Unicorn gay pride symbol Patch#
The unicorn patch became popular with Ukraine’s LGBTQ community after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The patch is meant as a rebuke to Russian rhetoric about “de-Nazification” and Russian rhetoric about the absence of homosexuals in the military forces of former Soviet territories.