More than 8,000 march in Kyiv Pride parade
More than
8,000 people participated in the Ukrainian capital’s annual Pride parade that
took place on Sunday.
The
Associated Press reported
police kept parade participants separate from LGBTI rights opponents who
protested the event. Officials said nine people were arrested during the
parade, but Kyiv Pride Director Ruslana Panukhnyk told the Washington Blade
there were “no major incidents.”
The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on Twitter said dozens of its staffers participated in the parade. Scottish MP Stewart McDonald and U.N. representatives are among those who also took part.
“It was a great Sunday for democracy and human rights
equality in Eastern Europe,” Kyiv Pride board member Maksym Eristavi told
the Blade. “Kyiv Pride has doubled in size. There were less incidents,
more public and international support, superb work by law-enforcement. Saying
that, (I) want to emphasize that this is a success of just one day out of
365.”
Panukhnyk said members of “far-right groups” last week attacked several people who attended a movie screening that was part of Kyiv Pride. Sunday’s parade also took place against the backdrop of discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity that remains commonplace in Ukraine.
“The rest of the year queer Ukrainians face constant discrimination, violence and fear, while attacks on them are never prosecuted or officially condemned,” Eristavi told the Blade.
Kyiv Pride https://t.co/3NMNAHj8bk
— Stewart McDonald MP (@StewartMcDonald) June 23, 2019
Published at Mon, 24 Jun 2019 20:35:09 +0000