Ukraine is accelerating the legalization of civil partnerships for same-sex couples

The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice supported the draft law providing for Ukrainians to enter into civil partnerships regardless of gender, on the basis of marriage.

One of the initiators of the bill, MP Inna Sovsun, announced this on her Facebook.

Previously, the project was opposed by the Ministry of National Defense. The ministry considered it contrary to the Constitution and discriminatory against military personnel entering into traditional marriages.

Now, according to Inna Sovsun, the Ministry of Defense "has changed its position and supported the bill".

The Ministry of Justice also had reservations and developed an alternative act on registered partnerships. However, as the MP notes, this ministry has also decided to support the existing bill and is already preparing amendments for the second reading.

As stated by the Ministry of Justice, if the draft law No. 9103 is adopted, Ukraine will fulfill its obligations under Art. 8 of the Human Rights Convention. The grounds for bringing lawsuits against Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights on grounds of discrimination will also disappear.

The Ministry of Justice assesses the draft law as the first progressive step towards constructive dialogue with society. The aim of which is to create a legal mechanism for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms"

says Sovsun.

From now on, the fate of the bill will be decided by the Parliament.

Inna Sovsun submitted a draft law on civil partnerships to the Verkhovna Rada in March 2023. It provides for the official registration of civil partnerships, which can be used by opposite-sex and same-sex couples.

According to the draft act, civil partners are identified as close persons. They have the right to property, inheritance, and social protection, but they cannot adopt or care for children.

LGBT+ people have been fighting in the ranks of the SZU since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, since 2014. After a full-scale invasion, there are even more of them. We do not know the exact number, but according to unofficial statistics of human rights organizations, up to 10 percent adult members of the LGBT+ community were drafted or voluntarily enlisted in the army - reports the ZMINA Human Rights Center.

They are wounded, taken prisoner and killed. Their partners are not allowed to enter the emergency room and cannot make decisions regarding treatment, funeral, or inheritance of property

They do not receive compensation in the event of death. They are deprived of the rights that “traditional” families are entitled to in such cases.

Marta Zmysla, lawyer, coordinator of the legal assistance line "JurFem: Pidtrymka", explains in the Ukrainian popular science portal "Gender in detail" that during martial law, unequal rights between heterosexual couples and LGBT+ couples became even more pronounced than during peacetime.

“During war, in addition to the rights and obligations provided for by family law, military personnel and their families also receive special social protection. The state guarantees them social benefits, compensation, medical care, etc. – writes Zmysła.

Partners of fighting LGBT+ people have no such guarantees. “To prove that same-sex couples lived together as a family and this must be proven in court”

the lawyer adds.

Due to the lack of rights that are officially available to “close relatives”, partners of LGBT+ people who serve in the military cannot submit an application to search for their missing loved one. They cannot take time off work if something happens to their partner, or worst of all – if he/she dies.

For LGBT+ soldiers, the fact that the law ignores them in the country whose future they are fighting for is the source of many life problems. However, this may change.