Anna Sharyhina

Anna Borysivna Sharyhina (born c.1978) is a Ukrainian feminist and LGBT activist. She is a cofounder of the Sphere Women's Association, a lesbian feminist organisation in Kharkiv, and of the NGO Kyiv Pride, the organizing committee of the Pride Parade in Kyiv.[2]

Anna Sharyhina
Born1978
NationalityUkraine
Other namesAnna Borysivna Sharyhina
OccupationActivist
OrganizationCo-founder in NGO Woman Association Sphere and NGO Kyivpride[1]
Known forMembers of feminist and LGBT events in Kharkiv

Sharyhina and her partner, Vira Chemygina, have been involved in the Ukrainian LGBT community and lesbian organizations for over a decade. They organized Kyiv's first walks for equality. Kyiv's second walk for equality, held in 2015, was accompanied by police and had the support of a range of public figures. However, the march only lasted 15 minutes because of extreme-right violence against the marchers.[2] Ten people, including police officers guarding the event, were injured.[3]

Sharyhina's feminist and LGBT activity has faced continued opposition in Ukraine. When she gave a lecture on LGBT movements at a Kharkiv bookstore, the meeting needed to be relocated twice: first to Kharkiv’s Nakipelo press centre and then to Kyiv’s Izolyatsiya centre.[4] PrideHub, a Kharkiv community center, was attacked by masked men with smoke grenades in July 2018; the building was later vandalised with graffiti and animal blood. Though complaints were made to police, and over 1,000 letters of complaint addressed to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, nobody has been punished for the offence.[5][6]

In March 2019 Sharyhina was amongst those organizing a Week of Women's Solidarity in Kharkiv for the first week of March:

The event’s goal is to return to the original essence International Women’s Day when women unite in the struggle for their rights. This is a day of female solidarity, not bouquets and sweets. The Week of Women’s Solidarity is primarily an educational project, and we are united not against something, but for the development of women, women’s communities and the whole of Ukrainian society[7]

In January 2020 Sharyhina criticized Mike Pompeo for visiting Ukraine without meeting LGBTQ community leaders.[5][6]

References
  1. "Anna Sharyhina « EuroCentralAsian Lesbian* Community". europeanlesbianconference.org. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. Claire Gaillard, Anna Sharyhina – Ukraine, Hope for the Future, Les Spread the Word, 5 October 2015. Translated by Leanne Ross.
  3. Clara Marchaud, Kyiv Pride week events to raise awareness, defend LGBTQ rights, Kyiv Post, June 8, 2018.
  4. Ganna Grytsenko, What are the real barriers to freedom of assembly in Ukraine?, openDemocracy, May 16, 2018.
  5. Anna Nemtsova, Mike Pompeo Snubs Ukraine’s Embattled LGBTQ Community, The Daily Beast, Jan 31, 2020.
  6. Lily Wakefield, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refuses to meet with LGBT activists in Ukraine, Pink News, February 1, 2020.
  7. Natalia Ivanova, International Women’s Day: Breaking Stereotypes, Kharkiv Observer, March 8, 2019.
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