How do we build bi+-inclusive communications that persuade, not provoke? This practical workshop distills findings from recent research on how Russian anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda shapes public attitudes and converts them into ready-to-use messaging for European contexts. We will map audiences (including the “moveable middle”), select effective messengers (mothers/sisters/friends; respected peers), and practice calm, pro-social frames (family bonds, everyday normalcy, competence at work). Participants will diagnose common pitfalls - exoticization of bi women, heightened stigma toward bi men, and intra-community erasure—and rewrite posts, quotes, and pitches using evidence-based patterns. You’ll leave with: a message library, five counter-narrative templates, a do/don’t checklist, and a simple testing plan (pre/post prompts, basic sentiment coding, safety notes). Suitable for comms leads, spokespeople, and volunteers; no prior research training required.
Denis Oleinik is Executive Director of LGBTQ+ group Coming Out, a human-rights NGO now headquartered in Vilnius that supports Russian-speaking LGBTQ+ communities across the region. Denis leads cross-border advocacy, evidence-based communications, and capacity-building, turning research on propaganda and public attitudes into practical campaigns, trainings, and media guidance. He has managed multi-country projects, complex budgets and donor relations, and produced toolkits, guides and reports. Denis regularly facilitates workshops for NGOs and spokespeople on narrative strategy, safeguarding, and digital/communications policy. Coming Out advances visibility, community support, and rights-based advocacy.
