Back in February, a petition was sent off to the Ukrainian government, which sought to introduce laws similar to Russia’s anti-gay propaganda laws.
The petition was drafted by the Christian Movement for Life, and among some of its more radical demands it wanted Pride marches banned, terms like “sexual orientation” to be discontinued, as they were “ideological” and “anti-scientific”, and a ban on any future legislation legalising same-sex marriages.
But the petition has now been stopped by Ukraine’s anti-discrimination ombudsman, Aksana Filipishyna. She wrote to the petition starter, saying: “This petition calls to restrict human rights and elements of incitement to restrictions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (belonging to the LGBT community).”
Filipshyna also cited Article 68 of the Ukrainian constitution, saying that the petition “encroached upon the rights and freedoms, honour and dignity of other persons.”
However, with the petition having garnered over 23,000 signatures and having support from major churches and other religious organisations, this may not be the last we hear of it.
Conditions for the LGBTQ community are slowly worsening in the Eastern European country. Speaking about the petition in February, one gay Ukrainian, who wished to remain anonymous said: “Conditions for LGBT+ Ukrainians are bad enough as it is. Nationalists can hunt out LGBT+ people just for fun and if they have protection through law, it will become even worse, just like in Russia.
“If the petition becomes legislation, the LGBT+ community will go underground forever and lots of people will have to leave country.”
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