Anna Dovgopol (born 1981 or 1982) is a Ukrainian LGBT rights activist and gender studies academic.

Early life and education

Dovgopol became aware of gender roles and expectations from a young age, and argued with her parents so she could wear pants to school rather than dresses or skirts. Dovgopol studied communications at the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston in the U.S. state of Maine. It is the southernmost of the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universitie ...

before earning a bachelor's degree in American Studies and Translation at the

American University of Central Asia The American University of Central Asia (AUCA) (russian: Американский университет в Центральной Азии; ky, Борбордук Азиядагы Америка Университети), formerly the ''Kyrgyz ...

. She holds a master's degree in gender studies from Central European University.

Activism

In 2005, while attending the American University of Central Asia, Dovgopol helped found an LGBT organization in

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

called Labrys. After returning to Ukraine in 2006, she worked for Women's Network, a feminist lesbian NGO, for a year. In summer 2007, she co-founded Insight, an NGO focused on LGBT issues; she worked there for the next two years. In 2009, Dovgopol worked with the Gay Forum of Ukraine to create the Coalition to Fight Discrimination in Ukraine. The following year, she worked for

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

's Ukraine office. Dovgopol worked with KyivPride in the mid-2010s. She is currently a co-editor at Gender in Detail, a Ukrainian pop science website. She has worked at the

Heinrich Boell Foundation Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

since 2012, where she is their Gender Program Coordinator as of 2024. She also is the Women Lead in Emergencies Coordinator at CARE Ukraine. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Dovgopol has focused some of her research on how the war has impacted gender roles (and vice versa), and the actions Ukrainian women have taken in response to the war.

Personal life

Dovgopol considers herself a feminist and a lesbian. She first realized she was not straight at age 21. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Dovgopol left the country for one of the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dovgopol, Anna 1980s births Living people 21st-century Ukrainian people 21st-century Ukrainian women Gender studies academics Ukrainian lesbians Ukrainian LGBT rights activists Ukrainian women academics Year of birth uncertain