Several hundred Ukrainian servicemen from the LGBT community and their supporters marched in downtown Kyiv today to demand more rights and draw attention to the fact that they are serving their country in the war against Russia, the Associated Press reported.
The servicemen, many of whom wore rainbow and unicorn patches on their uniforms, called on the government to formally grant them the right to partnership. They called the event a "pride march," but it lacked the celebratory atmosphere of peacetime events and took place in the rain and under heavy police protection amid threats from counter-protesters.
It is believed that the participation of the LGBT community in the armed forces has contributed to a change in public attitudes towards same-sex partnerships in the socially conservative country, AP said, quoted by BTA.
"We are ordinary people who fight on an equal footing with everyone else, but we are deprived of the rights that other people have," said Dimitriy Pavlov, a soldier who moved with a cane in his hand.
Activists are campaigning for legal reforms to allow people in same-sex partnerships to make medical decisions for wounded soldiers and arrange funerals for victims of the war, which began more than two years ago.
According to them, strengthening the rights of homosexuals will contribute to further differentiation between Ukraine and Russia, where the rights of the LGBT community are strictly limited.
Employees from the US Embassy in the country and from several embassies of European countries also attended the procession.
The organizers had experienced difficulties in organizing the event. City officials rejected a petition to allow it to take place in a subway station. The procession was condemned by branches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
"This event is part of a left-wing, radical political movement and aims to impose a political ideology and also to destroy the institution of the family and weaken Ukrainian society in the conditions of war and repelling Russian aggression," said in a statement the church.
Police set up cordons in the center of Kyiv to protect marchers from a counter-demonstration. Both LGBT marchers and counter-protesters called for foreign countries to help Ukraine in its war against Russia and chanted "Arm Ukraine now!".