Between 50 and 100 people gathered outside the Ukrianian parliament on April 20 to protest against the introduction of equal rights in Ukraine for gay people.
The protesters said they opposed the National Strategy on Human Rights for 2020, a government plan to introduce equal rights for LGBT people in Ukraine. They also said they wanted to highlight the fact that the Ukrainian Constitution defines marriage as “a union between a man and a woman.”
Some protesters carried placards that linked homosexuality to the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus, and to fascism.
The protesters also said they opposed recent changes to Ukraine’s Labor Code that ban discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
The said changes were part of the requirements set by the European Union in order for the union to grant a visa-free regime for Ukrainians. The European Commission on April 20 announced that it would propose that the European Parliament and Council of the European Union lift visa restrictions on the travel of Ukrainian citizens to the EU.
Several pro-LGBT activists launched a counter demonstration at the rally and debated with the rally participants.
