Transgender women in Ukraine cry out as government prevents them from leaving because they’re still recognised as ‘men’

A good number of transgender women in Ukraine are unable to leave the country because their national ID cards still mark them as male – and under the country’s conscription laws, men are made to stay and fight during war, NPR reports.

A distraught trans, Zi Faámelu has cried out after trying to escape the war in Ukraine, only for the identity card to prevent such from happening.

The 31-year-old singer has a passport with male (M) being the sex assigned at birth, and Ukraine has prohibited men of fighting age from leaving the country.

According to Los Angeles Times, the complicated situation has left Faámelu with no other option that to consider following other transgender women who have crossed into Poland illegally through the woods in the week since Russia invaded.

“Already we were fighting for our lives. And now we’re actually in war,” the trans singer said.

Faámelu is anxious to leave now because if Russia occupies Ukraine, life could deteriorate quickly for LGBTQ people.

Vice News reports that trans people in Ukraine are totally stuck and scared for their lives in the country. Two Ukrainian trans women who spoke to VICE said they can’t leave Ukraine or even safely travel through it because all of their identification documents say “male” and mention their “old masculine names”.

Some trans people have even been advised to “lose their ID” by human rights groups, in order to get out of Ukraine.