To “Celebrate Diversity,” as the motto of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest suggests, Ukrainians have first to acknowledge diversity exists, and then to start respecting it, Ukrainian human rights activists say.
Iryna Fedorovych, an expert with the civic organization Coalition to Combat Discrimination, told the Kyiv Post that it’s still difficult to be different from the mainstream in Ukraine. People with disabilities, as well as parents with strollers, have problems moving around the city. People from ethnic minorities suffer from stereotypes and inaccurate media coverage. Gay people have to hide their sexuality to avoid bullying.
“For some reason, we got used to the fact that everyone is more or less the same as the rest, and any difference of a person knocks this person out of the majority’s comfort zone,” Fedorovych said.
Disturbing news
The activist’s words fit recent news, including an April 2 incident when a blind man with a guide dog was denied entrance to the Kyiv metro. The metro authorities said the rules only allow larger dogs when they are in a cage or a portable kennel. There were no exceptions for guide dogs.
Another time, the Kyiv metro administration wanted to remove an advertisement for free HIV testing that depicted two men after passengers complained.
Also in April, people in wheelchairs rallied near Livoberezhna metro station to show that the station, remodeled ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest that will be held nearby, is inaccessible for wheelchair users.
Kyiv authorities then apologized and added a wide-door entrance for people in wheelchairs.
No wow effect
Dmytro Schebetyuk, co-founder at the Dostupno.UA human rights initiative that supports people with disabilities, said Kyiv’s infrastructure remains stuck in Soviet times. Most roads, curbs and crosswalks were designed without taking into account people with disabilities.
There are also only a handful of cafes and restaurants that are fully accessible for people in the wheelchairs, including places like Very Well Cafe, Ostannya Barykada, Harms and McDonald’s. Most shopping malls are also accessible, Schebetyuk told the Kyiv Post.
However, he says that technical problems are not the only ones.
Many Ukrainians still don’t treat people with disabilities, or those from ethnic minority backgrounds, as equals. Schebetyuk does not believe the slogan or the Eurovision contest itself will change a lot in Ukraine, just as the UEFA European Championship that Ukraine hosted in 2012 did not change much.
“Authorities are slow in understanding, they don’t learn from their mistakes, maybe open minded people will start thinking about diversity, but there won’t be any wow effect,” he said.
Zoryan Kis, board member at Kyiv Pride, or the Equality March which supports the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Ukraine, sounds more optimistic.
LGBT friendly
Unlike many others, Kis likes the slogan of this year’s event, “but not because it describes the real situation in Ukraine, but because this is the topic Ukraine needs to discuss a lot.”
Kis said “it’s important for the new Ukraine’s identity to form.” After the EuroMaidan Revolution that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 and other events, “it is important for us to change, and for Ukraine to become diverse.”
Kis said that only an aggressive minority are hostile towards Ukraine’s LGBT community.
To make Eurovision guests feel at home in Kyiv, Kis and his colleagues designed a special online map of LGBT-friendly restaurants, cafés, shops and clubs. “There are some places where staff can refuse to serve LGBT people,” Kis said.
The map initially included about 10 places, but Kis says they have received many requests from local businesses to put them on the map as well.
The Kyiv Pride website also suggests “to download the sticker ‘We are friendly’ for free and use it at your establishment.”
Fedorovych believes that it’s difficult to tell whether Eurovision guests will face disrespect on Kyiv’s streets.
“People here are more tolerant towards foreigners, and treat them more softly,” she said. “Ukrainians somehow allow foreigners to get away with more things than their fellow citizens.”
