Published time: May 26, 2013 10:07
Up to 100 LGBT rights activists took part in Ukraine’s first gay rally in Kiev, while anti-gay demonstrators shouted, “Ukraine is not America. Kiev is not Sodom.” Police arrested 13 people for trying to break up the march.
The march was held away from the central Kiev and lasted only 40
minutes, but was hailed as a breakthrough. The rally gained
worldwide support after Amnesty International asked Kiev
authorities to approve the gay march and protect its activists.
The event had been threatened with a ban by a local court.
Nevertheless, it went forward on Saturday amid heightened security,
with 500 policemen guarding the protesters.
The rally was backed by the US Embassy to Ukraine and the EU
Delegation, which called on police to “effectively ensure that
all persons can exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful
assembly without putting their personal safety at risk.”
Last year, LGBT activists canceled a similar protest in Kiev
over reported threats of violence. One of the organizers was
allegedly beaten up by a group of men.
“This event will go down in the history of Ukraine as one of
the key developments in the fight for equal human rights,”
protest organizer Olena Semenova told Reuters.
Orthodox Christian activists who protested against the rally
said they came to “protect family values.”
“We want to protect our children from homosexual propaganda.
This parade popularizes homosexuality. It can influence our
children for their whole life,” Ioksana Keresten said.
Last year, the Ukrainian parliament dismissed a second reading
of a bill that would have outlawed the “promotion of
homosexuality.” Proposed legislation to criminalize discrimination
against homosexuals has also been postponed.
Earlier this month, protesters broke up pro-LGBT rallies in
Georgia and Russia.
This article originally appeared on: RT