Be yourself: who is for the Equality March and who is against it?

What is KyivPride and Equality March?

Kyivpride 2018 is the week of cultural and educational events, dedicated to LGBT+ community life in Ukraine, takes place in Kyiv from 8 to 16 June. Traditionally, KyivPride will end by the Equality March on June 17, which starts near the National Opera of Ukraine and goes through the downtown.

PR coordinator of  KyivPride public organization Timur Levchuk is convinced, that the majority of  Ukrainians think that there are no LGBT community representatives among their surrounding. With this in mind, the aim of the KyivPride moderators is to make the capital of Ukraine such a place, where everyone can feel free while being who they really are.

“NDI research says, that 90% of people in Ukraine are sure, that there are neither gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender nor intersex human beings in their surroundings. We wish LGBT+ people would not be ashamed of who they are, we want to feel free in our country. There is no place for discrimination, violence and othering, this is the city where all can be themselves”, Timur Levchuk noted.

KyivPride public organization Programme Director Anna Sharigina points out that there is a good risk of persecution, threats or even dismissal of work for LGBT representatives in case of coming out.

“We constantly asked ourselves and our colleagues – what is the problem of self-disclosure of  LGBT + people? On the one hand, there is a social pressure: “don’t show up your homosexuality”. On the other – there is a risk for LGBT+ people to be persecuted, threatened, fired, evicted from home. During pride week we open the space for LGBT+ people, talk about social, economic and political aspects for self-disclosure of LGBT+ people”, Anna Sharigina said.

Ruslana Panukhnik, KyivPride director says that this year Equality March hosts more than 5000 participants. Every year this meeting is getting bigger and more various. Organizers, law enforcement agencies representatives and authorities promised to do everything for this meeting to be peaceful and safe.

“This year we are waiting for more than 5000 participants. The Equality March becomes more and more inclusive and various from year to year, and 2018 is not an exception. We will go together with LGBT+ people and their supporters from different Ukrainian regions, with foreign guests, with famous people and everyone, who is not indifferent and shares human rights agenda of KyivPride. The organizers and the National Police together with the city authorities will make every effort to ensure that the Equality March is peaceful and safe, and the LGBT + community is able to exercise its right to a peaceful assembly. The route will be announced soon”, Ruslana Panukhnik told.

What are the reasons of those, who is for the Equality March and KyivPride in general?

Alina Sarnatska, a human rights defender and member of the steering committee of the National Key Population Platform, explained to DUMKA that KyivPride is, first of all, an action to protect equality. However, the most important is the legitimate right of any group of people to come out and express their position in society.

“KyivPride 2018, in my opinion, is an action for protection of the equality of different people. A significant part of participants are not representatives of the LGBTQIA community, but people who support democratic change in the country. For me, the legitimate right of any peaceful gathering of people is important – to go out and speak to the authorities and society. Denying this right for such group of people on any basis is discrimination. The state is obligated to protect the rights of its citizens to a peaceful assembly, and I hope that it will successfully fulfill this duty, despite the pressure of the Right-winged Radicals and the Council of Churches.

I am proud that I live in a democratic country and that we can have such a public debate, in contrast to the totalitarian regime of our neighbors. Respect for others and for human diversity are traditional Ukrainian values. That is why I support KyivPride “, Alina Sarnatska explained.

At the same time, the human rights activist has stressed that in social networks there is an intimidation of those who have decided to join the Equality March. Moreover, according to the expert, “safari” on the participants was announced.

“There is a wave of intimidation in social networks from the right-wing radicals, in particular, they announced “safari” on those, who will come to the march that day. But I believe that the police will be able to protect the participants from attacks, as it was in previous years”, added the human rights defender.

Lyudmila Vasilenko, head of the office of the public organization “Center for Democratic Reforms and Media”, also supports the Equality March in comments to our project. According to her, such actions can testify that Ukraine is moving away from post-Soviet views and becomes more tolerant.

“I support such actions. I am convinced that events of this kind can show, that modern Ukraine is becoming more tolerant, devoiding of post-soviet and religious-radical views, patriarchal and discriminatory stereotypes (opposed to the aggressive northern neighbor), shares or at least is in the process of adopting European attitude to the issue of equality “, the expert explained.

Yuliya Knyazyuk, activist of the “All-Ukrainian League “Legalife”” charity organization and representative of the community of sex workers, left a comment on DUMKA stressing that KyivPride is a kind of way to draw the attention of the society to the problem of inequality of people, as well as to tell about those who suffer even though doesn’t  harm anyone.

“I support KyivPride 2018 as an activist, as a representative of the community of sex workers and as an ordinary human, a citizen of Ukraine. It is important for me to live in a country with tolerance and understanding. It is important, for a person to be himself and not to be afraid of talking about his/her preferences in a country where the labels are not put due to the orientation, where they are not afraid of judgments because of their appearance. KyivPride 2018, is one of the measures to draw the attention of the society to the problem of people’s inequality, it is also an opportunity to tell about people who, unfortunately, are subject to bullying, even though, they do not really harm anyone, but it simply became a stereotype “, was stated in the comment.

 

Lyudmila Denisova, the authorized representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights, expressed her support. The Ombudswoman stressed: the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are guaranteed to every person, and therefore the realization of these rights and freedoms must be ensured even if the expressed views are not very popular.

“The Constitution of Ukraine and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are guaranteed to every person. I underline – everyone. The realization of these rights and freedoms must be effectively ensured not only when the persons, exercising this right, express the views that are acceptable to the majority, but when expressed views are unpopular, can shock or cause concern in society.

Any discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is unacceptable. Incitements to such discrimination, and, even more, to violence are also unacceptable”, Lyudmila Denisova comments.

The Ombudswoman also said that she appealed to the law-enforcement agencies and the mayor of Kyiv to take all possible measures to ensure safe and unhindered Equality March.

“I hope we will not witness the inaction and the irresponsible attitude of the authorities in fulfilling their direct responsibilities for the proper, as for democratic society, insurance of these rights and freedoms, in particular, the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

     Once again, I call on all aggressive citizens to tolerate the Equality March, as a democratic society should do. And local authorities and law enforcement agencies – to find resources and make every effort to prevent escalating of the situation around the event, to provide effective security to the participants of the March against possible acts of physical aggression by the opponents, and as the result – effective implementation of human rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine”,  Denisova stressed.

Hennadiy Shklyarevsky, a history professor at Bard College, Bard College is a private liberal arts college, state of New York (the USA), said that in any case, the freedom of sexual orientation should be recognized. Moreover, if Ukraine sees itself as part of the West. Gennady Shklyarevsky himself explains his position quite simply: people tend to love other people.

“There are many theories about sexual orientation. Some associate sexual orientation with biology, others with personal choice. Often, our attitude to LBGT and, consequently, the recommended measures and policies, are determined by the way we understand the roots of sexual orientation. I’m not going to answer this theoretical question in short. I can only say that it seems to me that freedom of sexual orientation must be recognized. As for me, personal choice has the same value as biological determinism.

In addition, in the West, which is the undeniable leader in terms of freedom and human rights, the rights of sexual minorities are adopted at the law level. Therefore, if Ukraine sees itself as part of the West, it must share this view.

I do not recognize myself as a part of social minorities, but I have a lot of friends and acquaintances, who belong to these groups. My point of view on this subject boils down to one thing: people tend to love other people and are attracted to them, including sexual attraction. And in this perspective, there is no difference between heterosexual and same-sex love. Of course, nowadays love generally has a  very narrow meaning and even understood the wrong way. But in true love, as an expression of our sociality, which is based on our ability to create, there is no difference between a same-sex or heterosexual attraction. Regardless of the orientation, a beloved person should be treated with extreme responsibility and understanding.

So, a short answer: the parade should be supported, even despite some incidents of such parades and manifestation of not the best taste. But this is a special issue and has no relation to this problem”,   Gennadiy Shklyarevskiy told to DUMKA.

35 deputies of the European Parliament spoke in support of the Equality March in Kyiv. In the open letter to Petro Poroshenko, initiated by Rebecca Garms, European statesmen called on the march to be supported and concrete steps to be taken for protection of the LGBT community.

“Two KyivPrides in a row without violence demonstrated the country’s commitment to the right for peaceful gatherings, for which so many people sacrificed their lives during the revolution on Independence Square. We call upon the Ukrainian authorities to keep the peace this year on June 17 and to ensure security during the forthcoming KyivPride”, goes in the message.

The deputies also stressed that our country remains nearly the last in Europe, which has not passed laws to protect the LGBT minority.

“We regret that legislative progress has stalled: while non-governmental organizations recorded numerous cases of hate incitements and crimes, Ukraine remains one of the last places in Europe where laws do not protect LGBT minorities.

Human rights are not protected until the rights of all are not protected. Big changes often begin with symbolic gestures. We urge Ukrainian leaders and authorities to join their citizens at KyivPride on June 17. Make a historic step and be in the front row while the Ukrainians are meeting a strong, diverse and equal democracy in our European family”, the deputies noted.

Who is the “against” and why?

Recently, Kyiv Metropolitan Onufriy the current head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate appealed to the authorities to cancel the Equality March. In his point of view, such events are the propaganda of sin and perversions, and therefore allegedly can cause great harm to children, and even more so-to-call “the wrath of God on Ukrainian land.”

“The holding of such events is a public and candid propaganda of sin, in particular, sexual perversion. It can cause irreparable damage to the pure hearts and souls of our children, and moreover –  to bring the wrath of God to the Ukrainian land, on which the innocent blood of Ukrainians has already been shed for several years. The Scriptures strongly judge Sodom’s sin and any other unnatural deviations”, –  the statement says.

Also, the head of the UOC-MP emphasized that the church respects the interests of other people, however, according to him, these interests do not have the right to propagate “sin perversion”. That is why, in the appeal to the authorities, the church leader demands to cancel the Equality March. Moreover, the same day he announced a prayer for the preservation of Christian family values, and the prayers will be read in temples and monasteries, “so that the Lord would not allow the spread of Sodomic sins among our people”.

“We respect worldviews and interests of other people. However, they should not propagate sinister perversions. It is unacceptable to equate sin with the freedom given by God. Therefore, feeling responsibility to God and people, worrying about the present and future generations, we appeal to you, dear authorities, to prevent the holding of the march of  LGBT communities’ representatives in the capital of our country, in Kiev”, Onufriy urges.

According to Volodymyr Bratashchuk, a representative and cleric of the Protestant church with specialization in program engineering, the government shouldn’t at least provide support and public approval for such events, then it could become a restraining factor. At the same time, Vladimir Bratashchuk emphasized that the relations are divided into those that were conceived by the author of all living beings, and those that “are the result of perversion and certain obsession or passion”.

“Personally, I am against this kind of declaration of equality between traditional and non-traditional sexual relations. I do not say that people are not equal, someone is better, and someone is worse, I say that there are such relations that were conceived by the author of all living beings and those that are the result of perversion and a certain obsession or passion. We can not equate absolutely different things in morality or health, because you can go too far in it.

As for our state, we cannot forbid people to do anything, but the government at least can not provide support and public approval. This could be a deterrent to the development of this course in Ukraine”, Volodymyr Bratashchuk explained to DUMKA.

Representatives of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate stated that they approved neither homosexuality nor violence against representatives of LGBT communities. In the church’s opinion, believers should not hate or to be prejudiced against homosexuals. However, religious people can not tolerate this and other “immoral actions”.

“We do not advocate discrimination against people who consider themselves homosexuals, but we are strongly opposed to the fact that homosexual life and behavior are treated as natural, normal and useful for society and personality. We are against the promotion of homosexuality as a standard of sexual living and that for the state to encourage its citizens to have same-sex relationships.

Believers do not have and should not have hatred or prejudiced attitude towards those who have homosexual tendencies. But religious people cannot tolerate homosexuality, other immoral actions and their propaganda as phenomena of spiritual and social life. Using the rights enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine to freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, our fellow citizens have the right to express their position and their protest.

We emphatically reject calls for violence or even bloodshed as inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel. Expressing their protest against sin, believers must remember the Scriptures: “No one should repay evil for evil, but take care of the good before all people … Don’t be defeated by evil, and overcome evil with good”, the press-center of the UOC KP reported.

One of the speakers who wished to remain unknown told the DUMKA that the problem of “correct social reaction” to homosexuality is connected to the decision whether to consider it a pathology. According to the scientist, the best option is not to conduct socially important actions either “for” or “against” LGBT communities.

“Homosexuality does not limit the physiological capabilities of a person, but this quality limits the possibilities of reproduction of human individuals in general. At present, this restriction is not a danger to humankind but may present a potential danger to the survival of mankind in a more massive spread of homosexuality.

Therefore, at present, the phenomenon of homosexuality does not deserve some attention from the side of society. The social focus on this feature, we may say, of some individuals can only be one of the causes of the social conflicts emergence. Therefore, it is desirable not to conduct socially significant events in support or against homosexual nature.

At the same time, it would be useful to make researches in order to identify opportunities for managing the tendency to homosexuality. The results of such studies could be used later, for example, to make social decisions on birth control”, goes in the comment.

Are the protests against the action legitimate, and whether the LGBT community is protected?

Oleksandr Verbitskiy, a political consultant, in the commentary to DUMKA, said that Ukrainians are not ready for European perceptions of such actions yet. Also, do not forget that Kyiv is not the whole of Ukraine, and the church is not an indicator of all thoughts, but only an illustration of the attitude of a significant part of the believers. According to the expert, one should also mention the national-patriotic forces that sharply oppose such events.

“The society is not even ready for European perception of such actions. We must not forget that Kiev is not all of Ukraine, and the church is not an indicator of the whole spectrum of opinions, but the reflection of the attitude of a significant part of believers. And the matter, in this case, is not about what kind of patriarchy is being discussed, about Moscow or Kiev one, or about which patriarchate on Ukrainian territory. There are, after all, some other forces that are claimed to be nationalist-patriotic (not to be confused with national-patriotic), who are strongly opposed to such actions in particular and LGBT in general. The legitimacy of any applications is based on the freedom of speech guaranteed to every citizen of Ukraine by the Basic Law if the word or statement does not bear signs of a threat to national security or infringement of the rights and freedoms of citizens. To prevent the threats of possible streets closures, and so on there is the police force. This is its area of responsibility, as well as the protection of participants of processions, parades, marches, demonstrations of any kind”,  the political consultant assured.

Oleksandr Verbytskiy also stressed that nowadays it’s difficult to say that someone is more or less protected, than the representatives of LGBT communities. In fact, according to the expert, the main member of the community is the one who pays taxes. Then go children, retirees, military, police, and so on. And in this case, representatives of the LGBT community are all over these groups.

“Nowadays it’s hard to say that someone in the LGBT community is protected more, and someone is less. According to this logic (they are not protected), each separate group of citizens must be protected by a separate law or by-law. For example, do teachers or doctors, miners, deceived depositors of banks, pensioners, ATO veterans, widows, children with disabilities and so on have to protest for various reasons. So what? For each category, do we need a separate law on protection and immunity during different protests? And what, in fact, is the difference between LGBT community and other Ukrainian citizens? As far as I understand, the most respected member of the society is the taxpayer, and the state should do everything to protect him. The second most significant member of society is a child, and everything must be done for his development, it is the future of our society. And the third most respected member of a society is a pensioner, since he has given everything to society and has the right to a calm and worthy old age. Of course, there are military and police officers as a separate category – they are people in the uniform. But they need special attention, since they are consumers, as well as civil servants and employees of budget organizations. And in this case, to speak so, LGBTs are inside of all the groups above”, Olexander Verbitskiy commented.

According to Lyudmila Vasilenko, there is now an urgent need to protect the representatives of  LGBT communities at the legislative level. In addition, we need to train medical and law enforcement personnel.

“I think there is a need to protect LGBT communities of discrimination, violence, persecution and aggressive rhetoric at the legislative level by adopting anti-discrimination legislation. It would also be a good thing to train medical staff, police and law enforcement agencies”, said the head of the of

Whether actions like the Equality March can change the image of Ukraine abroad?

Gennadiy Shklayrevskiy, the history professor at Bard College, assured DUMKA that the image of the country only wins because the Equality March will demonstrate that Ukraine is not afraid to be different and can exist in a spirit of mutual respect.

“As a person who lives in the US for more than 40 years, I may fairly state, that Ukraine’s image in the West will only change for better. The fact of following an example of such a reactionary state as Russia itself cannot positively influence the image of Ukraine. Holding the march will show that Ukraine is not afraid of differences and can reasonably discuss them in a spirit of mutual respect. Eliminating differences, including sexual orientation, is the way to domination, and not to freedom and democracy”, Gennadiy Shklyarevskiy considers.

But Lyudmila Vasilenko, the head of the public organization “Center for Democratic Reforms and Media”, believes that possible changes in the image, that are quite likely due to such actions, are the main reason of opponents of KyivPride and in particular the Equality March.

“A similar march has recently taken place in Australia. It was attended by representatives of various professions, including soldiers, police, doctors, and civil servants. This action not only demonstrated a high culture of tolerance in the country but also attracted thousands of tourists to visit the true festive carnival of equality. Indeed, such a march could change the image of Ukraine, but unfortunately, in my opinion, this is the main argument of his opponents”, Lyudmila Vasilenko comments.

The political consultant Oleksandr Verbitskiy is convinced that the holding or cancellation of the Equality March will not affect the image of Ukraine, which cannot be said about various disputes or conflicts that may occur during the action itself.

“The image of Ukraine equality will not suffer from the holding or non-holding the March, but it may suffer from fights and conflicts during the meeting. In the European Union and the world in general no one need to know who we are and what we are. It’s us drawing a picture in which we are in the center of the universe. And this is actually not true. The world around us is accustomed to visualizing everything, to think in images, in Instagram and messengers – shortly, brightly and clearly, as a tweet, or at best, as a story in the news which lasts 60 seconds.

“Yup! In Ukraine, they beat LGBT people! This is barbarism!” – will be thought on the other side of the screen. And why, who, what is our history, traditions, whether our country European and how long the question of the freedom of the LGBT movement has been raised is not interesting to anyone”, the expert summed up.

Text: Dmytro Zhuravel