You're reading: Protests against homophobia, state status of Russian language held in Kyiv

Two protests have been held in front of the Ukrainian parliament building: a protest against homophobia and a protest against giving the Russian language state language status.

The protest against homophobia had some 20 participants, an
Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. They held pro-homosexuality and
anti-discrimination placards.

The protest in support of the Ukrainian language and against giving
Russian the status of a state language had some 150 participants. They
knocked on empty buckets and tooted. The protesters held state flags of
Ukraine and placards reading “Let’s save the language and go home,”
“Down with Ukraine division,” “Stop the language law,” and “I have no
money for two languages.”

There were police officers at both rallies. The two protests were divided with a police cordon.

According to earlier reports, the Ukrainian parliament passed at
first reading on June 5 the bill on the principles of the state language
policy initiated by the Regions Party. The bill strengthens the
positions of Russian and the languages of other ethnic minorities in
regions where 10% of the population speaks the language.