Tag: Ukraine

Health and human rights crisis looming for people who use drugs in the Crimea

The International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and the Eurasian Network of People who use Drugs (ENPUD) wish to call the attention of civil society, the United Nations, and member states to a largely overlooked aspect of the catastrophic situation currently unfolding in the Crimea. As has been widely reported, the Crimean peninsula,… Read more »

Can the far right in Ukraine accept LGBTI rights and equality?

Svyatoslav Sheremet, the leader of the Gay Forum of Ukraine, talks to PRIDE Solidarity about the precarious place of LGBTI equality in the Maidan movement As the Russian Parliament gave authority to President Vladimir Putin to use military action against Ukraine, the country’s LGBTI citizens wondered if the embattled government would respect their equality. Svyatoslav… Read more »

Comment: With all eyes on anti-gay Russia, there are three countries with a shocking need for coverage

Paul Canning looks critically at media coverage of the LGBT situation in Russia, highlighting other areas around the globe where hate crimes and violence have also soared, yet where media coverage is still minimal. It’s Russia, Russia, Russia when it comes to ‘foreign gay news’ these days. But it’s a much bigger and badder gay… Read more »

Anti-gay groups mount attacks in Ukraine

A rising wave of homophobia is spilling over from neighboring Russia where gay “propaganda” was recently banned This article originally appeared on GlobalPost. Global Post Kyiv, Ukraine — Taras Karasiichuk was near his home in Kyiv in May last year when he noticed a group of young men following him. They began taunting him with… Read more »

Ukraine human rights commissioner calls for LGBT hate crime laws

The Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights has called for LGBT status to be added to the country’s hate crime laws and for an end to attempts to ban so-called ‘homosexual propaganda.’ Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Valeriia Lutkovska has called for lawmakers to add LGBT status to laws in the country’s criminal code… Read more »

LGBTQ Ukrainians advance democracy

LGBTQ Ukrainians held their first Equality March in Kyiv this past weekend and its significance goes well beyond calls for legal rights and protections for sexual minorities. In a conservative, deeply religious, fledgling democracy, one misunderstood minority’s peaceful march contributed to advancing freedom of press, speech, and assembly in Europe’s second largest and potentially one… Read more »

Ukraine gay rights activists hold first ever march

Kiev — Around a hundred gay rights activists marched in Ukraine on Saturday despite fears of violence, marking the first gay pride event in the ex-Soviet country, where homophobia is widespread and socially accepted. “This can be considered a historic day,” Elena Semyonova, a representative of the organisers, said after the event. “We felt like… Read more »

Court cancels Ukraine’s first gay pride rally

Kiev, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Thursday banned what would have been Ukraine’s first-ever gay pride demonstration, upholding a suit by city authorities, who argued the rally would disturb annual Kiev Day celebrations and could spark violence. The ruling dashed the hopes of Ukraine’s gay and lesbian community, who planned to use the… Read more »

Ukraine’s Gay Pride Rally Canceled By Court

Kiev, Ukraine – A Ukrainian court on Thursday banned what would have been Ukraine’s first-ever gay pride demonstration, upholding a suit by city authorities, who argued the rally would disturb annual Kiev Day celebrations and could spark violence. The ruling dashed the hopes of Ukraine’s gay and lesbian community, who planned to use the event… Read more »

Ukraine: new report reveals pervasive homophobia

A new report by Amnesty International reveals homophobia reached endemic levels in Ukraine A report launched in Kiev a day before the International Day Against Homophobia, shows that homophobia and anti LGBT discrimination is spiraling out of control in the Ukraine. The 17 page report launched today (16 May), entitled ‘Nothing to be proud of:… Read more »

Gay Pride in Ukraine’s struggling democracy

“President Viktor Yanukovych’s regime, widely criticized for harassing reporters, nurturing a culture of corruption, and using the justice system to persecute political opponents like Yulia Tymoshenko, has a chance to show the European Union he can do something right.  He needs to support the event and protect demonstrators in favor of and opposed to civil… Read more »

Ukraine: Reject Discriminatory LGBT Laws

European Parliament Should Hold Kiev to its Rights Obligations (Moscow) – The Ukrainian parliament should reject two draft laws that would discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and infringe on their free expression rights. On April 3, 2013, one of the bills passed a parliamentary committee vote, sending it to the full… Read more »

HIV tests, free condoms for Ukrainian Condom Day celebrations

If a Condom Day celebration evokes images of a bright festival with people dressed as variously flavored condoms dancing in the streets, a reality check is needed. Source – Kyiv Post

Ukraine: ‘Read Oscar Wilde? 5 years in prison’

Human rights activists in Ukraine have launched a media campaign and a petition drive against the proposal to impose a ban on “homosexual propaganda.” Posters in Kiev metro stations point out some possible outcomes if the bill is passed: “Listen to Queen? Five years in prison.” “Read Oscar Wilde? Five years in prison.” “Watch the… Read more »

Vatican: Topless women demonstrate for equal marriage rights during Pope’s weekly prayer

A Ukrainian feminist group have demonstrated topless at St Peter’s Square for gay rights, as Pope Benedict XVI gave his weekly prayer. Four women from Ukrainian feminist group, Femen, stripped off to display the words “Shut up!”, on their fronts, and “in gay we trust” on their backs. The activists also shouted “Homophobic shut up!”,… Read more »

Europe slams Russia and Ukraine laws and says gay rights must be a ‘priority’

The European Parliament has told Russia and Ukraine to drop gay gag laws and said LGBT issues must be a foreign policy priority for the EU The European Parliament has told Russia and Ukraine to ditch plans to fine and jail people who talk positively about gay issues. The LGBT ‘gay laws’ already exist in… Read more »

Violence, arrests disrupt gay-rights protest in Ukraine

Six LGBT-rights protesters and several counter-protesters were reportedly arrested today in Ukraine during a gathering to celebrate International Human Rights Day. The theme of the 100-person protest in Kiev was “Say No to Legislative Violence against Human Rights,” which focuses on a bill before the parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) that would prohibit “gay propaganda.” The… Read more »

A pro human rights event and against homophobia was brutally crushed by police and attacked by far-right groups in Kyiv, Ukraine Several participants were beaten up and six detained during an event to unite all human rights advocates against homophobia and censorship by police and anti-gay far right groups. The event was held today (8… Read more »

Ukraine anti-gay activists release gas at LGBT protest

Hundreds of Ukrainian lesbian and gay activists have joined a rally in the centre of Kiev, defying a court order. Protesters denounced a proposed new law that would ban any positive depiction of homosexuals including gay pride marches. Clashes broke-out after anti-gay activists tried to disrupt the rally by letting off gas in the crowd.… Read more »