GEOFF BENNETT: It has been more than four years# since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of## Ukraine.

And while the war has affected# the daily lives of nearly all Ukrainians,## life has been especially challenging# for members of its LGBTQ community.

Author and photojournalist J. Lester Feder# recent book chronicles some of those lives.## Here's our conversation with him.

J. LESTER FEDER, Author, "The Queer Face of# War: Portraits and S.. My name is J. Lester Feder.

I'm a reporter# that's pri.. And I'm the author of "The Queer Face of# War: Portraits and Stories from Ukraine."

LGBT people have been targeted in wars in# well-documented ways going back at least## as far as World War II.

But we don't have a lot# of stories about what actually happened to them,## because, in most wars, it hasn't been# safe for LGBT people to speak publicly.

So, when the war in Ukraine began, I immediately# went over there to begin interviewing people to## find out what issues they might be having.

And# we were particularly concerned, because Russia## had used so much anti-LGBT propaganda, that they# might be targeting queer Ukrainians on the ground.

I did not plan to do a book# or to do a photo project.## I assumed, like the reporting I'd# done in Afghanistan or Iraq or Syria,## that people would not want to be photographed# or even necessarily share their full identities.## And I asked people if they could be# photographed really as an afterthought.

But people started saying yes.

And# when a number of people had said yes,## I realized that I was building what# I think is the first visual history## of a queer community in war.

So there isn't# one LGBT experience of war.

There are many.

And one of the reasons why I chose# to do the book as a series of## vignettes of individual people was to capture# this range.

I talked to one guy who was in the## Army as a cook.

And I talked to drag queens in the# military administration supporting armed forces.## And then there are the soldiers that are in# the trenches and really fighting directly.

And that's everything from Viktor Pylypenko,# who founded the LGBT military organization,## has spent most of the war on the front lines,# and has been quite accepted and celebrated for## his work, to a woman named Emilia, who is# transgender, joined the military initially## because she thought it was the only way that# she could afford gender-confirming surgery.

And then when she did finally# start transitioning after being an## intelligence officer and spending 10 years in# the armed forces, her commanders stripped her## of her security clearance, and ultimately she# was forced to leave the military altogether.

And this made me think a lot about the fights over## gay people being able to serve in# the military when I was a teenager,## and today the Trump administration's# efforts to remove trans people from service.

It's really important for marginalized# groups to be able to serve in the military,## because it is a way of demonstrating that there is# an ability to bear the full weight of citizenship,## and therefore they're entitled to# the full rights of as citizens.

And that denial of service is saying that# marginalized people are somehow less than## other citizens, they're not truly equal, and,# therefore, can't make those demands.

And it's not## just the queer community that has recognized this,# but I also think about the civil rights movement## and African American soldiers coming back# to the United States and that being a real## spark that helped mobilize the# civil rights movement here.

The treatment of queer people, like the# treatment of all marginalized groups,## is a real measure of the health of a democracy.# One of the values of democracy and pluralism## is that it can -- has room for# many different kinds of people,## and everybody can still be full citizens,# even though they're not the same.

Ukrainians are not different from Americans or# Europeans, in that the fight that they are having## to remain safe as a queer community in a democracy# that supports their rights is a global struggle,## because the model that Putin has perfected# of using homophobia to attack democracy## is something that we are seeing in otherwise# healthy democracies all over the world right now.

One of the activists that I spoke to# said there's really only two options## here.

Either Ukraine will be a democracy and# LGBT people will have rights, or it will be a## dictatorship and no one will have rights.

And I# think that really captures the stakes for today.