1. Early life and education

2. LGBT activism

3. Life and Activities in the US

4. Political and Public Activity

5. Globa and the Democratic Alliance

6. References

7. Publications

8. External links

Early life and education

Bogdan Globa was born in Zachepylivka, a semi-rural town located in the Kharkiv Oblast(province) of Ukraine, about 200km south of Kyiv. He was born into a family of teachers; his mother was a teacher of English and his father taught economic theory. Later his parents moved to the small city of Poltava, where Bogdan attended primary and secondary school.    

In 2011, he graduated with a master’s degree from the Department of Finance and Accounting at the Poltava University of Economics and Trade.  

In 2012, Bogdan was selected to participate in a special training course on "Advocacy of LGBT Rights in the USA," funded by the US Embassy in Ukraine under the US State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The training brought a group of Ukrainians to the US as part of the World Learning Program.

In 2015, he successfully completed his studies in the Management Development Program at Kyiv Mohyla Business School with a focus on “Management: the Art of Making Management Decisions.”

LGBT activism

At the age of 15 Bogdan came out to his parents, who reacted with rejection and hostility, forcing Bogdan to leave home.^[4] This was the start of his independent life and a focus on human rights, specifically LGBT rights. In 2004, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine inspired Bogdan to become more active in the area of human rights, based on the understanding that the people themselves can and must be agents of change.^[5][6]

In 2006, Bogdan moved to Kyiv where he connected with local LGBT activists and became involved in human rights activism. In 2009, Bogdan cofounded the NGO Fulcrum All-Ukrainian Charitable Organization. He initially served as the organization’s Financial Director, subsequently becoming Executive Director.

After finishing the US-based training program “Advocacy of LGBT Rights in the USA” he returned to Ukraine and decided to found several organizations, including: a movement among parents (“TERGO”) aimed to support parents of LGBT children; the [https://cei.org.ua/en/ Ukrainian Corporate Equality Index], the first-ever open survey and ranking of LGBT policies and practices among business and organizations; and, [https://friendlydoctor.org/en/ Friendly Doctor], an innovative platform providing accessible and friendly medical services for LGBT people throughout Ukraine. He also began to work with elected officials to support legislative initiatives aimed at protection and advancement of rights and freedoms for the LGBT community.^[7]  

On November 7, 2013, during hearings in the Verkhovna Rada(Ukrainian parliament) on the proposed European Integration and Anti-discrimination Law, Bogdan made a very public coming-out as the first openly gay person to address parliament.^[8][9]After that speech he took on the role of Assistant to parliamentarian Hryhoriy Nemyria, in the area of human rights.^[10][11]

Life and Activities in the US

In November, 2016, Bogdan came to the US at the invitation of Brown University to give a lecture on the LGBT movement in Ukraine. Based on the increasing number of death threats he was receiving due to his visible LGBT activism in Ukraine, he made a difficult decision and applied for political asylum in the USA. He settled in New York City and after receiving a work permit began working in a non-governmental organization providing assistance to immigrants.^[12]

In 2018, he founded the first Ukrainian LGBT organization in the US in order to help, support, and exchange experiences among all Ukrainian LGBT persons  who have immigrated to the United States and Canada.

Political and Public Activity

Bodgan was an active leader in the Euromaidan movement and Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine (2014).^[13] He called on the LGBT community to participate in the revolution under the European flag rather than the rainbow flag in order to maintain unity and avoid a damaging split into ineffective factions. He also opposed direct provocation of pro-Russian forces that were trying to splinter the Euromaidan protest movement by fomenting controversy related to LGBT rights.^[14]

On January 14, 2014, in protest of a fake “gay parade” designed to undermine the movement, Bogdan organized a peaceful action near the office of “Ukrainian Choice,” the organization which had co-organized the provocation.^[15] During the action, along with other activists Bogdan attempted to present the organization’s leader Mr Medvedchuk with a fake ceremonial certificate “For significant contribution to the development of LGBT movement” which featured the famous photo of kiss between Henry Kissinger and Leonid Brezhnev. The symbolic gesture was meant to call attention to the law on the “Prohibition of Homosexual Propaganda” which had been adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament upon its first reading, and formed part of several “dictatorship laws” passed under ousted President Yanukovych.  

In December, 2014, Hryhoriy Nemyria, Head of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities and International Relations, confirmed the appointment of Bogdan Globa as his volunteer assistant. Bogdan actively worked in the Human Rights Committee, raising issues of international anti-discrimination standards as well as issues of implementation of European standards against discrimination.  

In November, 2015, Bogdan was elected secretary of an expert council formed under the Committee on Human Rights. At the same time he was also actively fighting for an amendment to the Labor Law on the prohibition of workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

On November 12, 2015, together with members of parliament Svitlana Zalishchuk and Mustafa Nayyem, he hung a banner on the balcony of the Verkhovna Rada bearing the words “Equality for all” and the logo of the Human Rights Campaign – the biggest pro-LGBT rights organization. This was to celebrate a momentous occasion - On that day the Verkhovna Rada with a majority of 234 votes adopted draft law #3442 which prohibits  discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Ukraine.

Globa and the Democratic Alliance

In June, 2014, a public conflict broke out between Bogdan Globa and the Democratic Alliance Party in Ukraine. The conflict started when Bogdan’s application for membership in the Democratic had been rejected on the grounds that his LGBT activism contradicted the Christian values of the party. After Bogdan published correspondence with the deputy head of the party on his Facebook-page, a follow-up discussion went viral on the social media platform.  Many supporters of the Democratic Alliance were surprised to find out about the party’s Christian ideology and internal opposition to key issues such as sex marriages and legal abortion, as prior to the open conflict with Bogdan the party had positioned itself as a young democratic pro-European party.    

At the press conference organized to address the conflict Vasyl Gatsko, the head of Democratic Alliance Party commented on the denial of membership to Bogdan Globa: “The philosophy [of the party] assumes that family is union of a man and a woman, at the same time we do not deny and do not mind that other forms of life are possible”.

On May 26, 2015, a district court in Kyiv agreed to hear a case brought by Bogdan Globa against the Democratic Alliance claiming discrimination based on sexual orientation. This case is currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights.^[16]

References

Publications

• [https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/bogdan-globa-us-midterms-critical-for-minorities-around-globe.html Bogdan Globa: US midterms critical for minorities around globe]
• [https://euobserver.com/lgbti/129051https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/bogdan-globa-trump-era-means-lgbt-ukraine.html What Trump era means for LGBT in Ukraine]
• [https://euobserver.com/lgbti/129051 Kiev pride: A test of EU values]
• [https://euobserver.com/opinion/127984 One year after Euromaidan: What's changed for gay rights?]
• [https://euobserver.com/opinion/123896 EU and Ukraine: too busy to protect gay rights]
• [https://euobserver.com/opinion/121897 The EU-Ukraine tango on gay rights]
• [https://www.lgbt.org.ua/materials/show_2578/ Year after the Maidan: що змінилось для ЛГБТ]
• [https://www.lgbt.org.ua/en/materials/show_1309/ How much do human rights cost?]
• [https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/bogdan-globa/eu-says-no-to-gay-rights-in-ukraine The EU says no to gay rights in Ukraine]

External links

1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBFCFSsFCo The first speech of the open gay from the rostrum of the Ukraine parliament]
2. LGBT Advocates from Ukraine Brief Congressional Staff

• Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left
• Halfway Around The World
• Halfway Around the World
• Halfway: Between Ape and Angel
• Halfway between Here and There
• Halfway Between Here and There
• Halfway between the gutter and the stars
• Halfway-Cornucopia Highway
• Halfway, County Cork
• Half way covenant
• Halfway Creek Site
• Halfway Dam State Park
• Halfway Down (poem)
• Halfway Down the Sky
• Halfway Highway
• Halfway Home
• Halfway Home (album)
• Halfway home(tv series)
• Halfway Home (TV series)
• Halfway house (disambiguation)
• Halfway House (novel)
• Halfway Houses
• Halfway House, Shropshire
• Halfway Human
• Halfway Impotent