Ukraine: Treatment and state protection available for homosexuals and lesbians (January 2000 - November 2000)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 December 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | UKR35862.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ukraine: Treatment and state protection available for homosexuals and lesbians (January 2000 - November 2000), 1 December 2000, UKR35862.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4bebc1c.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The February 2000 issue of the ILGA Euro-Letter states:
Nash Mir (Our World) Gay and Lesbian Centre has been registered as non-governmental organisation in Ukraine. The certificate No. 408 of November 30, 1999, was issued by the Department of Justice in Lugansk region. The state registration of the first openly gay&lesbian organisation is an extremely important precedent for Ukraine.
A 25 June 2000 article on the Russian National Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Website states:
Despite obvious traces of the Westernization in the Ukraine, the Ukrainian gay community does not exist as such. Kiev is the only city offering several gay establishments to choose from ... Public attitudes towards homosexuals are generally tolerant in Kiev and Kharkov, but the rural localities, especially in the Western Ukraine (Zapadenschina), are extremely conservative, religious and, consecutively, homophobic. However, Ukrainian gays remain active – for as long as three years they have been publishing a gay magazine Odin Iz Nas (One of Us) on a regular basis.
A 19 October 2000 article posted on the above-mentioned Website by the News Staff of PlanetOut states:
Although the non-profit Nash Mir is taxed as if it were a for-profit corporation, and despite members' continuing complaints of police harassment, its spokesperson Andrey Kravchuk says public attitudes towards gays and lesbians in the Ukraine have noticeably improved since the days of USSR rule when homosexual acts were criminal. ...
In 1991 the Ukraine became the first of the former Soviet republics to decriminalize consensual acts between adult males, but it largely retains the custom of gay and lesbian invisibility, so that as Kravchuk writes, among officials "All gay problems are regarded as insignificant and untimely." ...
There are no protections from discrimination in the Ukraine, and both the Ministry of Education and the military specifically prohibit employment of known gays and lesbians. Police assisting harassed gays and lesbians is almost unheard of, while illegal detentions and interrogations are commonly reported to Nash Mir, usually involving intimidation rather than outright violence. While public attitudes vary widely, most people prefer that gays and lesbians remain invisible, and mainstream media generally notice them only in the context of scandals. Even the East-European University in Lugansk has refused Nash Mir's speakers and workshops, although the group regularly provides information bulletins to major libraries.
The above-mentioned Website also contains a summary in English of The Blue Book: The situation of gay men and lesbians in Ukraine, which was written in Ukrainian and Russian, and which is included as an attachment to this Response.
No additional information on the treatment of homosexuals and lesbians in Ukraine, and on the state protection available to them, could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
ILGA Euro-Letter [Copenhagen]. February 2000. Andriy Maymulakhin. "Ukrainian Gay and Lesbian Centre Gets State Registration."
Russian National Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Website. 19 October 2000. PlanetOut News Staff. "Post-Soviet States Confab in Kiev."
_____. 25 June 2000. "Ukraine."
Attachment
Our World Information and Human Rights Gay and Lesbian Center [Lugansk, Ukraine]. 2000. "Blue Book: The Situation of Gay Men and Lesbians in Ukraine."
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB databases
LEXIS/NEXIS
Internet sites including:
Amnesty International
Gayzoo - Gay and Lesbian Search Engine
Hokkaido Slavic Research Centre
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
International Helsinki Federation
Lavender Links
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
World News Connection
World Wide GLBT News Digest
