Pride to counter suppression.
In central Kyiv in Ukraine, approximately 5,000 people marked the the 10th KyivPride March via a march for equal rights for everyone, regardless of who they love or who they are. The event ended under attack, when — at the closing of the event — speeches from the stage were cut short due to an air attack by Russia, which started invading the country on 24 February 2022.
The central demand of this year’s KyivPride March was the recognition of LGBTQIA+ people’s families, an issue that has become critically urgent for many during the full-scale war. Right now Ukraine is adopting a new Civil Code which, instead of finally recognizing same-sex families, lays the ground for new discrimination.
KyivPride’s specific demands include:
- Not adopting the draft new Civil Code as it contains discriminatory provisions and contradicts Ukraine’s commitments within European integration. Instead, “ensure the implementation of transformation roadmaps with LGBTQIA+ organizations as full partners in the process of change”.
- Recognize family partnerships for military and civilians as a step toward marriage equality, the harmonization of legislation with European standards, and the fulfilment of Ukraine’s obligations under European Court of Human Rights rulings.
- Introduce fair criminal liability for intolerance-based crimes, in particular homophobia and transphobia, by improving Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
- Bring Ukraine’s medical legislation on transition in line with modern standards and with ICD-11, and simplify the procedure for officially changing documents for trans people.
“Today we once again saw the strength of Ukrainian civil society in the face of the Pride movement on the streets of Kyiv. Since the start of the full-scale invasion we have come out against corruption, against the draft Civil Code, and now we have come out for equal rights. The institution of civil partnerships is an urgent and minimal compromise that we demand from the state in order to immediately ensure protection for LGBTIQ+ people,” said Anna Sharyhina, head of the board of NGO KyivPride.
Oleksandr Demenko, head of NGO ‘Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights’, and defender of Mariupol and Azovstal, added that LGBTQIA+ people fight on the battlefield, and at the same time they are forced to win their own equal rights. “That is unjust. Many of them died without ever living to see equality; many never managed to come out publicly in their lifetime. It should not be this way.”
“Every year, more and more people join the KyivPride March and Prides across the country, and that is a concrete signal to those in power: the time for change has come, and it is needed now, both at the level of laws and at the level of awareness. We have a choice to make about what kind of country we are: a country of ‘traditional values’ or a modern European state. Equal among equals.”
KyivPride is a non-governmental organization working to advance equality and human rights in Ukraine and to strengthen the influence of civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community on the country’s path to EU integration.
