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Ukraine

In Kiev, It May Be The Moment To Dismantle Maidan

Barricades and tents at Maidan Square in Kiev, on July 14, 2014.
Barricades and tents at Maidan Square in Kiev, on July 14, 2014.
Yanina Sokolovskaya

KIEV — Representatives of the new Ukrainian government are convinced: It is time for Maidan Square to be free of tents.

The only question is how to get rid of the protestors from the site that became the center of the pro-democracy movement. The police think Maidan should be cleared with force, as if it were occupied by criminals. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, and a number of national politicians all think that the protesters need to leave on their own.

Earlier efforts have started by trying to first clean up Kreshchatyk street, which leads up to Maidan. But taking down the first two tents led to an uproar, and traffic couldn’t be opened on the street anyway.

Now Klitschko thinks he can come to an understanding with the residents of the tent city. “A forced clean-up is an extreme measure. I am not considering it and will never consider it,” the mayor said, as he was announcing the first steps towards cleaning up the square.

The government is holding negotiations with the protesters, but the only concrete step that has been taken is moving some of the tents out of Kreshchatyk street and into another neighborhood of Kiev.

Boots on the ground

“The mayor has offered us options for temporary lodging. But we aren’t refugees, we are monitoring the government, which isn’t carrying out the wishes of the people. They want us to leave, because they don’t want to free Donbas and they don’t want to fight corruption,” said Nikolai, sitting in the summer heat in full camouflage and new army boots.

Seeing the activist's shiny footwear, one passerby sneered: “You would be better off sending those new boots to the front, where our soldiers are fighting in sneakers.”

Nikolai answered right back: “We also need equipment here, we are also on the front-line.”

Maidan Square on June 21, 2014. Photo: Flickr/Mighty Travels.

But the Ukrainian government considers the present Maidan a criminal camp, not the front line. Both the prosecutor general, Vitaly Yarema, and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov have made statements to that effect. Yarema said that there have been 158 crimes committed in Maidan Square since February, four of which led to fatalities. He said there were investigations into “14 cases of armed assault, 79 robberies, and 18 beatings as well as drug use, illegal weapons and fraud.”

“It’s best to avoid the Maidan area,” explained employees of the city television channel, whose studios are near the camp. “There have been times when someone finished filming, and then was attacked, beaten and robbed. Today Maidan is not the center of the civil society, like it was during the winter.”

Interior Minister Avakov says that he has a plan to deal with the tent city, and feels sure that Ukrainian society will look kindly on “the use of force to deal with criminals.”

Maidan representatives have responded to the threats of security forces by holding “people’s assemblies,” although they weren’t particularly well-attended. The speakers warned that all efforts to clear Maidan will be for naught - they simply won’t leave.

Newly installed Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has called on the government to proceed carefully. In his opinion, Maidan is “more than just a symbol.”

Viktor Hebozhenko, a political scientist in Kiev, says that trying to unilaterally clean up the square would be a major mistake for the new government, which he notes was “brought into power by Maidan.”

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LGBTQ Plus

My Wife, My Boyfriend — And Grandkids: A Careful Coming Out For China's Gay Seniors

A series of interviews in Wuhan with aging gay men — all currently or formerly married to women — reveals a hidden story of how Chinese LGBTQ culture is gradually emerging from the shadows.

Image of two senior men playing chinese Checkers.

A friendly game of Checkers in Dongcheng, Beijing, China.

Wang Er

WUHAN — " What do you think of that guy sitting there, across from us? He's good looking."

" Then you should go and talk to him."

“ Too bad that I am old..."

Grandpa Shen was born in 1933. He says that for the past 40 years, he's been "repackaged," a Chinese expression for having come out as gay. Before his wife died when he was 50, Grandpa Shen says he was was a "standard" straight Chinese man. After serving in the army, he began working in a factory, and dated many women and evenutually got married.

"Becoming gay is nothing special, I found it very natural." Grandpa Shen says he discovered his homosexuality at the Martyrs' Square in Wuhan, a well-known gay men's gathering place.

✉️ You can receive our LGBTQ+ International roundup every week directly in your inbox. Subscribe here.

Wuhan used to have different such ways for LGBTQ+ to meet: newspaper columns, riversides, public toilets, bridges and baths to name but a few. With urbanization, many of these locations have disappeared. The transformation of Martyrs' Square into a park has gradually become a place frequented by middle-aged and older gay people in Wuhan, where they play cards and chat and make friends. There are also "comrades" (Chinese slang for gay) from outside the city who come to visit.

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