Conclusion

While LGBTQI+ people have gained greater acceptance through their participation in the Ukrainian military, this white paper has addressed how LGBTQI+ Ukrainian refugees, including defenders in the Ukrainian military, still face tremendous legal, social, and institutional challenges. We echo research that has advocated for more nuanced understandings of refugee experiences worldwide, inclusive of gender and sexuality.

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Further, this white paper charges that gender-inclusive migration research must attend to people beyond binary sex and gender. While it is established that we need gender mainstreaming in migration research (28), our work calls attention to the nuances of gender and sexuality that are frequently left out. And while Ukrainian refugees face unique issues and a particular context of war, this project might serve as a catalyst for future research on other sexual and gender minority refugee experiences in other parts of the world.

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