Ukrainian MP submits draft law on same-sex partnership
Participants of the WarsawPride and KyivPride parade holding a Rainbow Flags reflect in the sunglasses of another participant. Photo AFP, Wojtek Radwanski
Eastern Europe
Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun submitted a proposal to the Ukrainian Parliament on Tuesday to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual spouses.
Other parliamentarians have five days to sign the proposal, Sovsun writes on her Facebook page.
She states that the draft law will help spouses –both same-sex and heterosexual– figure out their mutual rights and duties without being married, issues of property, heritage, social security and rights when one dies or disappears. “Nothing special. Just things that have always been available to diverse couples in Ukraine.”
Demand
The politician admits that Western countries demand Ukraine introduce more LGBT-friendly legislation. However, she says that the stories of Ukrainian servicemen have also convinced her to draft this bill. That is reported by SPHZ. According to Sovsun, the state is obliged to offer legal protection to people who protect its national security. “In Ukraine, human dignity and freedom are real values”, she writes.
“I talked with LGBT soldiers, I hear about their problems, and I am convinced that, as a society, we must correct a great injustice when some citizens and women have fewer rights than everyone else”, she points out. It is not clear, though, how many LGBT soldiers there are.
Her bill is also meant to strengthen the rights of unmarried heterosexual spouses.
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