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100% Te Ljubam (2000)  

Gay Kiev 



Ukraine is only at the start of its journey in the recognition of all of its citizens equal rights. Tolerance of gay rights is mixed. In Kyiv you will find total acceptance by enlightened young professionals. But there is also a dual background of Soviet indoctrination and newly discovered Orthodox religious beliefs to combat in this process. On the other hand this is the country that almost won Eurovision in 2007 with drag queen Verka Serduchka (who came 2nd).


Kiev has a vibrant gay life. It is just not that visible.
There has been progress. Much was made in the European press of attacks on people marching in the gay pride march in 2015 in Kiev. However it was less reported that the 2016 gay pride march went off without any hitches.
In the same period the parliament successfully passed a bill that opposed discrimination at work based on sexuality in 2015 and a poster campaign (shown below) provides a hotline for reporting such abuse.

Especially for Eurovision there is an English-language gay-friendly map of restaurants and bars in Kyiv: http://www.the-village.com.ua/village/city/city/257709-u-kievi-stvorili-mapu-mists-yaki-e-druzhni-do-lgbt-spilnoti
For the gay scene there's a useful English-language page: https://www.lgbt.org.ua/en/materials/show_1086/
It may be warm enough in May, so there's also a gay naturist beach on the left bank not far from the Eurovision venue by the GidroPark metro station. 
For details see:
The dinghy ferry to the beach is around 30 hrivnas.
What gay locations do you know?
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