LGBT Gains in Ukraine Are in Danger

[pampango]

Ukraine just passed some surprisingly progressive LGBT protections — but they might not last longer than a few weeks.

LGBT rights have long been a contentious issue in the countries of the former Soviet Union, where homosexuality was a crime until the early 1990s. Despite the best efforts of a dedicated minority of LGBT activists and their supporters, lawmakers in Russia are considering a ban on public displays of LGBT identity. In Kyrgyzstan, leaders are considering a law that could send anyone to jail for so-called propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.

But Ukraine was supposed to be different. The country’s 2013 Euromaidan revolution, commonly referred to as the Revolution of Dignity, threw out the corrupt Yanukovych regime and installed a new and ostensibly more reform-minded government, which promised to bring the country in line with European standards and values. With many of the old guard still in power, reforms have been slow in coming. But, since the European Union requires workplace protections for sexual orientation and gender identity as a precondition for instituting visa-free travel, Ukraine’s vocal community of LGBT activists were confident that the country would soon move beyond the homophobic and transphobic discrimination that still pervades.

And indeed, last week — after several attempts — Ukraine’s parliament passed an amendment to the labor code that bans discrimination based on race, disability, and a host of other characteristics, including sexual orientation and gender identity. This seemed like a big win, both for human rights and for Ukraine’s prospects of European integration. The amendment promises Ukrainians protection from discrimination that citizens of many other countries, including the United States, do not enjoy. But in fact, this victory may not be what it seems. As soon as the vote was cast, opponents of LGBT rights began scheming to water down or do away with these new protections. If they succeed, the new rights LGBT Ukrainians have won might not last longer than a few weeks.

As the deadline to meet the EU’s workplace discrimination requirements approached last week, politicians, commentators, and activists clashed about the controversial legislation, pointing fingers at each other, either for caving to the EU and abandoning Ukraine’s traditional values, or for destroying Ukrainians’ dreams of integrating with Europe. Civic activists organizing on Facebook took to the streets under the banner “Don’t Fu€k With US!” to demand that parliamentarians do their job and pass the laws necessary to satisfy EU requirements — but displayed discomfort with the visibility of LGBT activists who arrived with rainbow flags. In the end, after failed attempts on November 5 and 10, and six roll-call votes on November 12, each of which inched closer to the necessary threshold of 226, the anti-discrimination amendment finally passed on November 12 — just barely — with 234 votes.

But the battle between competing visions of Ukraine’s future — a liberal, pro-European Ukraine or a more conservative, religious one — continues unabated.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/17/lgbt-gains-in-ukraine-are-in-danger/

Seems that religious and conservative forces are reluctant to adopt "liberal, pro-European" anti-discrimination laws affecting the LBGT community. Let's hope the liberal community wins this one.