Online LGBTQ+ activism in Eastern Europe

Abstract

While scholarship on post-Soviet activism, including those analyzing online activism in separate post- Soviet states, is rapidly growing, there is still a lack of systematic comparative research on online activism in the region. This gap is especially noticeable concerning the comparative analysis of online LGBTQ+ activism across post-Soviet states with different socio-political trajectories. This omission is striking because LGBTQ+ activists in the region have increasingly prioritized online engagement as the key mode of mobilizing supporters, promoting LGBTQ+ agenda, and publicizing instances and patterns of discrimination. The paper aims to fill in this gap by analyzing how LGBTQ+ activists employ social media depending on local socio-political environments in Eastern Europe.

The focus of the analysis is Estonia, Russia, and Ukraine. These countries present interesting cases for the comparative examination of online LGBTQ+ activism. On the one hand, all three countries are impacted by the legacy of Soviet homophobia. On the other hand, these states display radically different socio-political trajectories over the post-Soviet period, which have created very different opportunities and constraints for LGBTQ+ activists. They have also adopted different approaches to censorship and the freedom of online communication.

The paper adopts social movement theories and recent advances in political communication (strategic narrative approach) to examine the use of social media by LGBTQ+ Estonians, Russians, and Ukrainians. It explores how local social and political contexts affect discourses and narratives used by LGBTQ+ activists online in these countries.