Klitschko urges LGBT community to cancel gay parade in Kyiv

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Kiev Post

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said he urged lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community to cancel gay parade in the Ukrainian capital.

https://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv/klitschko-urges-lgbt-community-to-cancel-gay-parade-in-kyiv-354722.html

Read more: https://www.kyivpost.com/content/kyiv/klitschko-urges-lgbt-community-to-cancel-gay-parade-in-kyiv-354722.html

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Amnesty International: Ukraine pride cancelled after police fail to guarantee protection.

The failure of the Ukrainian authorities to guarantee protection for those taking part in the planned Pride march on July 5 sends all the wrong signals, said Amnesty International.

https://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine-abroad/amnesty-international-ukraine-pride-cancelled-after-police-fail-to-guarantee-protection-354734.html

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. I guess Russia isn't the only country in the area that is bad on gay rights.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Russia and other countries share a very anti gay Soviet past and a very anti gay Orthodox form

of Christianity, so of course they share many of the malignancies that arise from such authoritarian ideology based systems.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. That makes sense.

[former9thward]

13. "very anti gay Soviet past"

The Soviets were aggressive atheists. But you had to throw Christianity into the mix. They could not have been aggressive atheists and Christians at the same time.

[Igel]

3. It's better than Russia.

But there are three things at work.

Klitschko yesterday said that he didn't want parades for wounded returning soldiers. That during a war was a bad time for public celebrations. He's on record for something that's "patriotic" with the same stance that he has for this. Don't know that I like Klitschko, but at least he's consistent.

As for the police, this is another matter. In the presence of far-right demonstrators that are bound to be there, you want to make sure you have loyal police. I don't think anybody trusts the police at this point. They stood by in Odessa on 5/9. They've openly cooperated with forces in the east. They've been caught twiddling their thumbs in Khar'kov and other cities. Ukraine's far better than the rashisty, but there's a limit to how much you can push people, esp. when loyalty to the state is weak. There's also an interesting view that what's been happening is a revolt of the dvoechnye--those who received "2" on their report cards (think of the cultural translation "revolt of the D students&quot .

The third thing is one that's not mentioned in the article but is obvious to anybody who's followed the rashist press. ("Rashist" is a nifty blend of Rossiya, the Russian word for Russia, pronounced "rah-see-ya", and fascist.) In the LPR and DPR there have been open attacks on GLBT "hot spots"--clubs, institutions, what passes for "leaders." And the degeneracy and pro-gay corruption that they see in the EU and Kiev is the frequent basis for part of their dissent. It's not just that they're not going to let Russian be spoken in your bedroom, it's that they're going to openly preach decadence and corruption to impressionable youth. Yes, it's Putinesque and could easily be quotes from the Russian press a couple of years ago. "We can't allow the indoctrination of our youth." The Eurovision contest provoked an incredible outcry.

If the parade is held, the next day the people in the LPR and DPR will be told that if the Ukrainian forces win, that parade and the values behind it will be forced on the my the Jewish gay fascists in Kyiv. It will also further piss off pro-DPR and LPR folk in Kyiv and other places, and really--they've had enough bomb threats and bombs and grenades left in public places, attacks, disruptions to the power grid, sabotaged rail lines, kidnappings, beatings, blown up bridges, and the like. Some by pravseks (Pravy sektor folk) and some by rashists.

They've already been finding people who are recruiting in other parts of "Novorossiya," and some are anti-EU (with gay rights being mentioned) as much as pro-Russia. For some it's not ethnic, but "values." Yes, Ukraine has "values voters" and currently they're casting no so much ballots as bullets. Let's rile them up more, why don't we, and make them fight harder and kill more people? If it's done just right, maybe Russia will intervene and next year's parade can be accompanied by official beatings and prosecutions under laws passed by a new Supreme Council under a restoration of Yanukovich or, even worse, Aksyonov, the twit from Crimea.

[davidpdx]

7. I would think an event would be ripe for a terrorist style attack like the bombings in Boston

It would only take a couple crude devices at the right spots to cause chaos and death. Security doesn't seem to be very tight in Kyiv or any part of Ukraine. It could be argued that an event like that would do more harm than good if it were to happen.

[dipsydoodle]

4. That's an inconvenient truth

The EU says no to gay rights in Ukraine.

After former President Yanukovych’s U-turn on an Association Agreement with the EU last autumn, the new Ukrainian government is on course again to tighten its links with Europe, and the cabinet has submitted to the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] a package of bills to be passed before the first phase of an EU visa-free travel system can be implemented.

The Ukrainian state faces numerous challenges today. After the pro-Russian era of Yanukovych, the government has a whole series of issues to deal with: no money in the treasury, economic knock-down, demoralised state apparatus, no stable majority in parliament, and most importantly – Russian troops massed across the border.

In this difficult situation, a month ago the government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced a raft of objectives: urgent political reform of the country, successful presidential elections in late May, movement to visa-free travel for Ukrainians, the signing of an economic association agreement with the EU, and the maintenance of Ukraine’s territorial integrity (or at least, of its mainland).

On 26 March, representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament arrived in Kyiv to conduct a series of meetings and consultations with government officials, political elites and the public sector. During the meetings, EC Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle and Yatsenyuk discussed a plan for implementing visa liberalisation for Ukraine.

We are not aware of all the agreements made between the government and the European officials, but at a meeting with representatives of LGBT organisations, the EC announced that one previous requirement for transition to Phase II - legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace - had been dropped. Instead, the government has promised a few concessions, including a recognition that the Ukrainian constitution prohibits discrimination on any grounds, including sexual orientation, and an increase in the powers of the Ombudsman.

In pursuance of this plan, on 27 March the government submitted to Parliament Bill 4581 – ‘Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (concerning prevention and combating discrimination)’, which amends existing law in terms of burden of proof and other technical issues, but does not include amendments to the Labour Code to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. This bill was adopted in the first reading on April 15, 2014. Now it is being prepared for the second reading.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/bogdan-globa/eu-says-no-to-gay-rights-in-ukraine

[King_David]

5. They may as well just join Russia

[fireflysky46]

8. All the troop and police are occupy to protect the frontiers from Russians terrorists

So these parade, even if its support by the majority of person in Kiev, is a potential target for russians terrorist, and Kiev don't want to take risk.

[dipsydoodle]

9. You're a bit adrift there

From 2012 :

The Ukrainian authorities should take action to protect the rights of LGBT people and ensure they are able to exercise their human rights without fear of attacks, Amnesty International said today after the first-ever pride parade had to be cancelled on Sunday.

Police advised pride organizers to abandon the march just 30 minutes before it was due to start. They claimed 500 ultra-right football hooligans were en route to the rally point with the intention of preventing the march from going ahead.

Two activists were beaten up and tear gassed by a dozen youths in central Kyiv after those already gathered for the march were evacuated with police escort.

“It has been clear from the start that the Kyiv police department did not want this march to go ahead. Their reluctance to commit to the event and to put adequate security measures in place to protect demonstrators left organizers fearing for their safety,” said Max Tucker, Ukraine campaigner at Amnesty International.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/ukraine-first-ever-kyiv-pride-cancelled-face-ultra-right-threat-2012-05-20

The police were not otherwise occupied : its the way it is there.

[Union Scribe]

11. Lol

I guess that's one way of looking at it

[Behind the Aegis]

10. This is a shame in so many ways.

Of course, this will be fodder for those who don't give one shit about GLBT people, our rights, or concerns in order to promote their own agenda. Bigotry sucks.

[fireflysky46]

12. right, there is that.nt

[bemildred]

14. There is no better time to hold it anyway, the world is watching now.

Later on, its attention may wander.

[socialist_n_TN]

15. When have fascists ever been OK with LGBT activism?......

This doesn't surprise me at all. Until they put down the eastern section of the country, the fascists and their ideas will be in control of the Kiev government. Because the Right Sector, Svoboda, et. al. is providing the majority of cannon fodder in the southeast, they will call the shots in the west.

http://www.workerspower.net/ukraine-can-donbas-workers-turn-civil-war-into-class-war

A good overview and "action program" for Ukraine.