Billboards in Ukraine urge people to use the word ‘gay’ instead of ‘faggot’
A campaign of billboards in Ukraine hopes to change the way people address LGBT issues, calling for people to “speak properly”.
The campaign, which has come under fire from the Russian media, calls for equality for LGBT people, Jewish people, Roma people, women, disabled people and those living with HIV.
One billboard includes the word “homos’ in Ukranian, crossed out, with the word: “Gays”. It goes on to say: “Use the right word.”
Another reads: “AIDS-ridden”, crossed out and replaced with “HIV-infected. Use the right word.”
BuzzFeed reports that the campaign is a project of the Gay Alliance Ukraine, and is funded by the Embassy of the Netherlands.
Concerns were last year raised for the safety of LGBT people in Ukraine, Crimea and Russia amid a crisis in the area.
One Russian website Bloknot.ru published a picture of one of the billboards and the words: “In Ukraine a scandalous agitation for gay marriage has begun openly.”
Another site wrote: “Ukraine is choking under European values.”
Taras Karasiichuk of Gay Alliance Ukraine wrote on Facebook of the Russian media response:“I think getting such a response from Putin’s doormats is a success.”
