Nick Antipov

Nick Antipov
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Born	September 1990 (age 34) Minsk, Belarus
Nationality	Belarusian
Occupation	LGBTQ rights activist Human rights defender
Organization	MAKEOUT project

Nick Antipov (born September 1990) is a Belarusian LGBTQ rights activist, human rights defender, and co-founder of the MAKEOUT project. He is known for his efforts to increase LGBTQ+ visibility in Belarus, advocacy for equality, and contributions to the broader democracy movement. Following the 2020 Belarusian protests, Antipov went into exile due to government repression and continues his activism from abroad.

Antipov's efforts have significantly contributed to LGBTQ+ visibility and activism in Belarus. Despite government crackdowns, he has helped establish a sustainable movement for equality and continues to support the Belarusian LGBTQ+ community from abroad.

Early life and coming out

Nick Antipov was born and raised in Minsk, Belarus, in the early 1990s. Growing up, he often felt out of place in the traditional patriarchal society and sensed from a young age that the heteronormative expectations around him "didn't fit". He struggled with internalized homophobia during his adolescence, at times facing bullying and hearing slurs that made him feel something was "wrong" with him. In his early twenties, Antipode came out as gay to his family, an experience he describes as a turning point. He received strong support from his mother, whom he said "gave [him] the resource to be who [he is]", and inspired him to become a supportive figure for others going through the same struggles. This combination of personal acceptance and family support motivated Antipov to channel his energy into activism. Upon coming out, he told his mother of his desire to dedicate himself to activism and to use his skills (he has a background in design) for the community's benefit.

Activism and MAKEOUT Project

Antipov first engages in activism in 2006 at age 16, during the tumultuous period of that year's presidential election; at one point, he sprinted away from riot police. By his twenties, after coming out, he decided to focus on LGBTQ community work rather than party politics, driven by the support he felt and a wish to "pass it on". In 2014, together with like-minded peers, Antipov co-founded MAKEOUT, a project and online magazine about gender and sexuality in Belarus. At its inception, MAKEOUT was a small website for sharing personal stories and countering the prevalent discriminatory rhetoric in media. Antipov and his team envisioned it as a "safe space...for people who face discrimination," a confidential community within an authoritarian environment.

Establishing MAKEOUT was not easy. The initiative emerged at a time when many earlier LGBTQ activists in Belarus had either emigrated or burned out under pressure, leaving "a vacuum" in the country's LGBTQ activism. MAKEOUT represented a "third wave" of LGBTQ+ activism in Belarus – previous waves in the 1990s and early 2000s, and again around 2008-2013, had been repressed and faded out. Officially registering MAKEOUT as an organization took 1.5 years and nine failed attempts; approval was granted on the tenth try in 2018. Antipov credited this achievement not just to his team, but to the legacy of all activists who persevered despite years of state harassment. Upon its official registration in 2018, MAKEOUT's mission focused on human rights and combating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under Nick Antipov's leadership, MAKEOUT grew into one of the largest online platforms for LGBTQ issues in Belarus and the broader Eastern European region. Its core mission was to increase visibility of LGBTQ+ people and foster a sense of community in a society that often pretended they "did not exist." When MAKEOUT started, there was virtually "no discourse about LGBT people... no laws, no policies, no mention in state media – an information void creating the impression we don't exist in Belarus", Antipov recounted. To change this, MAKEOUT and other activists prioritized visibility, empowerment, and safe community-building alongside advocating for equal rights. Over time, the efforts paid off: by late 2018, LGBTQ topics became somewhat more visible in Belarusian media and public discourse, and the number of active LGBTQ+ initiatives in the country grew. By around 2020, there were over ten independent LGBTQ groups across Belarus, including at least three in regional cities beyond Minsk.

Through MAKEOUT, Antipov spearheaded numerous projects to empower the community:

• Leadership Development: The MAKEOUT team formed a leadership program for young LGBTQ leaders, titled OUTLOUD, helping to foster a new generation of activists in cities across Belarus.
• Cultural and Educational Events: In 2015, Nick's team organized a "meta-" festival of queer culture. Over three days, it attracted more than 2,000 people – a remarkable turnout in Belarus's context. The festival combined film screenings, discussions, and arts, marking one of the country's largest LGBTQ-focused public events.
• Publications: In 2017, MAKEOUT published a 320-page magazine on gender and sexuality, which also chronicled the history of LGBTQ activism in Belarus. Over 700 copies were distributed. The publication was funded through a public crowdfunding campaign that raised more than €5,000, an indication that local Belarusian society was willing to support LGBTQ initiatives financially. Antipov saw this as a sign of growing recognition that LGBTQ issues are "significant and relevant" in Belarus. However, the magazine's launch event in 2017 drew unwanted attention from authorities, and security forces raided and disrupted the presentation of the publication, according to human rights groups.
• Online Platform: MAKEOUT's website became a major LGBTQ portal in Belarus and the post-Soviet region. It functions as an online journal with articles, interviews, and resources on LGBTQ+ topics, and also as a hub for organizing support groups, workshops, and community gatherings. Through this platform, Antipov and colleagues challenged hateful language in media and provided representation for queer Belarusians by sharing their personal stories.

Beyond MAKEOUT, Antipov has been active in broader advocacy and public engagement. He frequently has spoken out against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policies. For instance, when the UK Embassy in Minsk displayed a rainbow flag for the International Day Against Homophobia in May 2018, the Belarusian Interior Ministry issued a hostile statement condemning it as "a challenge to traditional values." In response, activists like Antipov highlighted the government's open homophobia. One activist, Vika Biran, staged a one-woman protest by photographing herself with a sign reading "You are the fake ones" in front of government buildings – a rebuke to the Ministry's statement. Nick Antipov publicized her case, noting that soon after, authorities targeted her with charges for "illegal picketing" in multiple districts; Vika was eventually fined. Similarly, in 2018, when Belarusian officials barred Alok Vaid-Menon, a prominent gender-nonbinary activist, from entering the country despite a visa-free regime, Antipov criticized the move as pure "transphobia and racism" by the authorities.

Role in the 2020 Belarusian Protests

The year 2020 was a watershed for Belarus, and Nick Antipov was actively involved at the intersection of democracy activism and LGBTQ+ rights. In the lead-up to the controversial August 2020 presidential election, Nick and MAKEOUT joined nine other LGBTQ initiatives to launch a platform seeking to engage candidates on equality issues. They developed a questionnaire for all presidential contenders, stating: "We, the LGBTQI community, are voters, volunteers, and signature collectors, and we want to know what you think about equality". This effort was a bold attempt to insert LGBTQ concerns into the national political agenda. However, the initiative was stymied when the leading opposition candidates were arrested by the regime (e.g. Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Viktar Babaryka were detained in mid-2020). As the political crisis deepened, Nick and fellow activists shifted their focus. Realizing that survival of democracy itself was at stake, he put aside the questionnaire campaign and volunteered as an independent election observer during the August 9, 2020 vote. "I simply could not afford to stand on the sidelines," he explained of his decision to directly engage in the electoral process despite personal risk.

When the fraudulent election results sparked massive nationwide protests, Nick Antipov witnessed an unprecedented moment of unity and visibility for queer Belarusians. LGBTQ+ people were among those in the streets protesting Alexander Lukashenko's regime. For safety, many queer volunteers helped with tasks like documenting abuses or assisting detainees without advertising their identities, since "they could not openly identify as LGBTQI because of homophobia" in some circles. Yet, "against all odds, a 'queer' column was formed" during the peaceful marches – with activists marching under rainbow flags and slogans. This was likely the first time the Pride flag was carried openly in major Belarusian political protests. Nick noted that by taking this step, LGBTQ protesters "finally revealed their identity" in the public arena. Visibility came at a price; those who marched in the queer column did face harassment and threats, mostly online, though less so during the marches themselves. Still, the very presence of an organized LGBTQ bloc in the 2020 protests showed how far the community had come in claiming its space in civil society. Nick contributed to documenting and amplifying these stories. He co-produced a short documentary film titled We Have Not Lived in Vain with Polish filmmaker and activist Bart Staszewski, focusing on LGBTQ/queer participation in the 2020 Belarusian protests. The film, screened in 2021 at events in Europe, aims to preserve the voices of queer Belarusians during the uprising so that their experiences are not erased from the broader narrative.

Exile and continued activism

Being an LGBTQ activist in Belarus has never been without risk, and the backlash after 2020 was severe. Nick has candidly spoken about the mental and emotional toll activism took on him. Years of working under constant pressure – "always in the crosshairs of the state, security services, and law enforcement" – led to episodes of burnout. He described how, even before 2020, he never truly felt safe as an openly queer activist; after the protest movement was crushed, the danger escalated dramatically. Activists were subjected to arrests, interrogations, and state violence. In Nick's words, "doing any kind of activism in Belarus is draining... It's eternally stressful. You develop tunnel vision – constantly thinking about how to help your community and achieve results – while neglecting your life outside activism". By 2021, the Belarusian regime intensified its crackdown on civil society, targeting NGOs, media, and human rights defenders in a sweeping campaign to eliminate dissent. MAKEOUT, despite having curtailed much of its public activity due to safety concerns, was not spared. In February 2022, the Belarusian authorities moved to forcibly dissolve the MAKEOUT organization, as part of the broader purge that eliminated over 800 NGOs. Nick Antipov announced the grim news on his Facebook page, confirming he had received official notice of MAKEOUT's liquidation. With a note of resignation, he wrote: "I had been waiting for them to come [for us]... They came". The liquidation, though largely symbolic since MAKEOUT had already gone mostly underground, marked the end of an era of open LGBTQ organizing in Belarus.

Even before MAKEOUT's formal shutdown, the situation had forced Nick into exile. Sensing the escalating danger, he left Belarus in July 2021, initially thinking it might be a temporary departure. That very day, a wave of raids and arrests of activists began back home, confirming that his risk of arrest was real. Nick describes the decision to leave as one of the hardest in his life – "I lost everything. I lost my community. I lost my family. I cannot go back home", he later reflected. As a visibly queer activist, staying in Minsk was no longer safe; by late 2021 he was already, as he put it, "a political exile". He resettled in Berlin, Germany.

Since moving into exile, Antipov has continued his activism, working with international human rights organizations and supporting Belarusian LGBTQ+ activists. He co-founded DasHip, a media platform focusing on gender and sexuality. He has also spoken at various international forums, including the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum with former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Recognition

In 2020, Antipov was selected as one of the Obama Foundation's Emerging European Leaders, which connected him with global activists and policymakers. His work has been featured in international human rights conferences and LGBTQ+ advocacy platforms.

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