Award-winning photographer and journalist J. Lester Feder shows us The Queer Face of War in this remarkable collection of stunning portraits and moving profiles, capturing the many ways queer people can be vulnerable in armed conflict—and the many ways they feel especially called to fight.
Queer people’s experiences of war have largely been invisible. Portraits like the ones in this book are rare because most recent wars have been fought in places where it is generally unsafe for queer people to come out. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is different: Queer people have become a visible part of the war effort, continuing to fight for their rights as they join the fight for their country. Queer freedom and the fight for democracy are deeply entwined in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has partly framed the war as a battle to protect “traditional values,” making this the first war in which a global superpower has invaded its neighbor with the explicit goal of rolling back LGBTQ rights. Award-winning photographer and journalist J. Lester Feder shows us The Queer Face of War in this remarkable collection of stunning portraits and moving profiles.
Foreword by Olena Shevchenko, Insight 8
Introduction 10
Map 16
Historical Timeline 19
WHEN THERE IS 25
NO LIGHT
THIS IS WHERE YOUR 43
LIGHT COMES FROM
OUR WORLD 61
I SAW IT WITH MY 85
OWN EYES
THE FEAR IS PERMANENT 101
HOW AM I GOING TO 115
LIVE WITHOUT HER?
Notes on Sourcing 130
Acknowledgements 132
About the Author 133
J. Lester Feder is a photographer and musician who tells stories about how global forces shape our everyday lives. Feder's recent work has focused on the experience of LGBTQ people in armed conflict. He was a senior fellow at the global LGBTQ organisation Outright International from 2021 to 2023, where he focused on Afghanistan and Ukraine, and is currently a senior fellow in the Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law.
