The Queer Face of War - Video & Photo Exhibit

Award-winning photographer and journalist J. Lester Feder shows us The Queer Face of War in this first-ever visual and oral history of a queer community in war. This remarkable collection of stunning portraits and moving profiles captures the many ways queer people can be vulnerable in armed conflict—and the many ways they feel especially called to fight.
In its siege of Ukraine, Russia forged a strategy that has since been adopted by authoritarian leaders around the world: attacking queer people to undermine fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. Vladimir Putin justified his war in part as a crusade to protect “traditional values” from the LGBTQ+ movement. Queer Ukrainians have been fighting back, demanding equal rights while defending their country. Queer Ukrainians have come out in unprecedented ways—as soldiers, humanitarian volunteers, refugees, and survivors of war crimes—speaking out and taking up arms to defend democracy.
For LGBTQ+ people, visibility is power. The portraits and profiles in this book are rare because recent wars have been fought in places where it is unsafe to come out. At a moment when LGBTQ+ people are under attack worldwide, The Queer Face of War is a crucial record of queer history—and a powerful testament to resistance and resilience.