Ukraine’s President Zelensky considers civil partnerships for LGBTQ people after the war
“All people are free and equal in their dignity and rights,” Mr Zelensky wrote.
Words: Emily Maskell; pictures: Wiki Commons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has discussed the possibility of civil partnerships in Ukraine but said that it cannot be altered during wartime.
President Zelensky, responding on Tuesday (2 August) to the online petition that exceeded 25,000 signatures calling for the legalisation of same-sex marriage, said the Constitution’s definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman will, for now, be unaltered, The New York Times reports.
The petition calls for same-sex marriage and civil partnerships to be recognised after the sacrifices LGBTQ+ soldiers are making to help the country’s continued war against Russia.
ОДНОСТАТЕВИМ ПАРТНЕРСТВАМ В УКРАЇНІ – ТАК! Zelenskyy said yes to same-sex partnerships!
Офіс Президента відповів на петицію: планується розробити законопроєкт щодо реєстрових партнерств для ЛГБТ+ пар в Україні!
Вітаємо спільноту, прайд-рух та дякуємо владі! 🌈 pic.twitter.com/cZEmmSsIUU
— KyivPride (@KyivPride) August 2, 2022
Currently, under Ukrainian Ministry of Defense regulations, the lack of state recognition for LGBTQ+ couples leads to particular complications entangled with the ongoing war.
As same-sex marriage is not recognised and a couple’s marriage is unofficial, Ukrainian LGBTQ+ people do not have the automatic right to visit a hospitalised partner, claim the body of a partner killed in war or collect death benefits from the state.
“Let people of the same sex get the opportunity to start a family and have an official document to prove it,” the petition, began by 24-year-old English teacher Anastasia Sovenko, reads. “They need the same rights as traditional couples.”
In Mr Zelensky’s response to the petition, he wrote that “each citizen is an indivisible part of civil society, for whom all rights and freedoms fixed in the Constitution of Ukraine extend.”
“All people are free and equal in their dignity and rights,” he continued.
Zelensky went on, however, to note that the Constitution of Ukraine states that “marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man,” and this would be left unchanged while Ukraine was at war.
He added that the government had “worked out options for a solution regarding the legalisation in Ukraine of registered civil partnerships under the auspices of work on the confirmation and protection of human rights and freedoms.”
“The response is more positive than it could have been,” Inna Sovsun, a liberal Holos party member, wrote on Facebook.
“But at the same time — not clear enough,” Ms Sovsun continued. “Changes to the Constitution are currently not possible, and therefore civil partnerships are an acceptable interim alternative.”
In Zelensky’s letter, he details he will be asking Ukraine’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, to review the petition and report his findings, something Ms Sovsun comments on: “I hope this will force the Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice to speed up.”
She concludes: “War is not an obstacle to becoming a better society. Rather, it is a factor that forces you to speed up.”
The Attitude September/October issue is available to download and order in print now and will be on newsstands from Thursday 4 August.
