The war in Ukraine is fueling the movement to legalize gay marriage in the country led by Volodymyr Zelensky. One petition demands that same-sex couples have the same rights as heterosexuals, including the right to marry.
It didn’t take long for the document to garner 300,000 signatures, enough to warrant a presidential review. Information taken from The New York Times.
As Moscow moved under Ukrainian territory, ensuring equal rights for LGBTQIA+ people became urgent. Concern about the issue stems from the discrimination, homophobia and social stigma of sexual minorities in Russia. The fight for equality in the field of marriage in Ukraine due to the entry of gay soldiers into the war.
An excerpt from the petition reads, “Right now, every day can be your last.”
The document’s author is 24-year-old Anastasia Sovenko, an English teacher from Zaporizhzhia, southern Ukraine, who identifies as bisexual. In an interview with the NYT, she said she felt compelled to initiate the petition after reading an article about heterosexual soldiers rushing to marry their wives before going to war.
Anastasia says she feels sad, angry and frustrated that same-sex couples don’t have that option.
If something happens, they won’t be able to visit their soul mate at the hospital. If they have children, the child is taken from the father who is still alive, if not the mother who gave birth. Because there is no legal relationship between them. They are just two strangers. And this could be their last chance to get married.
English teacher Anastasia Sovenko, who prepared the petition advocating equal rights for same-sex couples
President Zelensky may refuse to act on the petition or authorize it by drafting a bill on same-sex couples’ rights and sending it to Parliament for a vote dominated by the Servant of the People party.
He could also forward the matter to Parliament for discussion. Volodymyr Zelensky’s office did not respond to the NYT’s requests for comment.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Ukraine in 1991, but the country’s constitution says “marriage is based on the free consent of a man and a woman.” Replacing the text requires two-thirds of the Parliament.
LGBTQIA+ rights activists polled by the NYT say they hope Zelensky, whose country is a candidate for EU membership, will see marriage equality as an issue that can improve Ukraine’s liberal identity and bring it closer to the West.
Ukraine’s parliament is deeply divided on gay rights, and the majority is undecided, according to Inna Sovsun, a professor of public policy at the Kyiv School of Economics and MP for Holos, a liberal opposition party that advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights.
He added that if Zelensky spoke out strongly in favor of a law, he could persuade skeptics.
“When we defend the country, we dispel Russian propaganda that all gays are communist, Marxist and anti-Ukrainian,” says Viktor Pylypenko, director of an LGBTQIA+ organization that fought in the eastern Donbass and served in the Armed Forces. “By fighting the Russians and risking our lives for Ukraine, we destroyed these homophobic myths.”
The Eastern Orthodox Church and traditional traditions are deeply rooted in Ukraine. Some members of Zelensky’s party even proposed a law that would penalize “gay propaganda.”
Human rights defenders say LGBTQIA+ people in Ukraine are routinely discriminated against, though not as widely as in Russia. Gay pride activities across the country have been marred by threats and violence from anti-gay protesters and far-right groups.
source: Noticias
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