Organizers said the issue has become critical for many during the full-scale war and that the march aims to press for equal rights regardless of whom people love or who they are.
They said holding the march now is crucial because the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) is considering a new Civil Code that, in their view, would enshrine new forms of discrimination. This year’s slogan is "Our families are part of Ukraine."
"Same-sex couples in Ukraine can be together for years, share property and bank accounts and go on vacation, and still not have state protection,” said KyivPride chair Anna Sharyhina.
“If someone dies on the front line, their partner is legally nothing. The new Civil Code could fix this, but instead it cements inequality and pushes us away from the European Union, which we seek. We are marching to say: our families are part of Ukraine, and it’s time for the state to recognize that.”
KyivPride will present four demands to authorities:
- Do not pass the new Civil Code bill in its current draft;
- Recognize family partnerships for military personnel and
civilians as a step toward marriage equality and harmonizing Ukrainian law with
European standards and obligations under European Court of Human Rights rulings;
- Introduce fair criminal liability for intolerance-based
crimes, including homophobia and transphobia, through amendments to the
Criminal Code;
- Establish legal gender recognition based on self-identification without mandatory hormone therapy or psychiatric diagnosis.
This year’s march will include several organized communities, including a transgender community, a KharkivPride regional organization, and a group of LGBTQ+ military personnel, veterans, and their relatives.
"The presence of LGBTQ+ servicemembers and their
families carries special weight: they defend the country alongside everyone
else every day, but still lack the same rights, and their families are left
without legal protection," the organizers said.