Around 3,500 Ukrainians participated on June 17 in the Equality March, a pride rally in support of equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
The gathering was guarded by around 2,500 police officers, who prevented threatened attacks from far-right activists.
This is the fifth year in a row that the Equality March has taken place in Kyiv. This time, however, activists held a nine-day series of events, including conferences, movie screenings, and artistic performances, such as a tattoo marathon, and concluding with the pride rally.
Human right activists, diplomats, lawmakers (including German Greens Party Member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms), musicians, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations and other citizens started to gather around 9 a.m. in downtown Kyiv next to the Taras Shevchenko National Opera.
Many participants dressed in colorful outfits and were holding rainbow-colored and Ukrainian flags, and banners. They marched along Volodymyrska Street from the national opera building to Taras Shevchenko National University and turned on Lva Tolstoho Square where the rally ended.
Activists shouted out mottos such as “Freedom is our tradition,” “I have a right to love and be free” among others.
This is the second year in a row that the Equality March has taken place without any major incidents. However, the police detained dozens of radical activists before the event in order to clear the march route.
However, despite some improvements in the last few years, the provision of LGBTQ human rights in Ukraine still needs to be improved.
Some of the streets where activists planned to march were surrounded by police the night before the event to make sure the area was secure. The city’s law enforcement also received bomb threats against five downtown metro stations on the eve of the event. The threats turned out to be fake.
Maryna Herts, an event organizer, said that this time the Equality March achieved “unimaginable results” in terms of the number of participants, support on social media, and events that preceded the rally.
“It’s the most outstanding pride in the history of the (Equality March)” in Kyiv, she said. “The pride march means that we are visible, that we are present, and that we deserve the same equal rights as everyone else.”
The organizers planned safe routes away from the event , as in previous years far-right activists provoked clashes with the participants at the end of the rally. In addition, radicals called for violence against the LGBTQ community and its supporters before the event.
On June 13, Lyudmyla Denysova, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, said that anti-LGBTQ radicals threatened to organize a so-called “safari” on human rights activists where “prizes” would be given out for each beaten participant.
Shortly before the rally started, some clashes happened after radicals of the C14 neo-Nazi group blocked part of the designated route, according to Kyiv police. The police “pushed back” the activists after they refused to move, according to police. Some clashes also took place between far-right activists and participants near the Opera Hotel.
Overall, 56 people were arrested. No participants were injured.
However, some activists who were protesting against Kyiv Pride were injured as police cleared the route for participants. A video shows how police subdued the far-right activists using what looks like tear gas, and then beat some of them. The activists belong to the neo-Nazi C14 organization. The incident happened at 6 a.m. at Volodymyrska Street, some three hours before the beginning of the march.
Pictures from C14’s Facebook page shows at least one activist with a bleeding head injury, as well as others lying on the ground and held by the police. In the messages, they say that the activists “gathered for a protest action against the gay parade. The activists did not commit any violations or radical actions.”
Independent lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko participated in the rally for the fourth time since 2015. The first time the march was held at Kyiv’s Obolon district and resulted in violent clashes between radical groups and participants. Ten people, including police officers, were assaulted and badly injured.
Human rights is a cornerstone for European citizens, Leshchenko said. By participating in such an event, Ukraine shows that it’s moving towards Europe.
“This is not an easy way for Ukraine to move towards Europe,” Leshchenko said. “This is where the real integration (with European Union values) is taking place, precisely by crossing barriers in society, in the minds of citizens, and not just through a visa-free regime.”
Yana Panfilova, an activist open about her HIV positive status who also provides mental support for teenagers, said she was first afraid to come to the rally but then understood that she is ready to die for her stance, and changed her mind.
“I stand for the fact that we should finally learn to respect other people, learn to accept people the way they are, regardless of their sex, skin color, with whom we sleep with and so on,” she said.
Another rally participant, Iryna Zemlyana, attended the Equality March together with her mother for the third time. Zemlyana, a media expert at the Institute of Mass Information non-governmental organization, said that she is convinced that citizens don’t have a right to give up until they stand up for all of their freedoms.
“I believe that there will be a moment when I will wake up in the morning, will take a look at Instagram photos and will see people from the gay parade, not from the pride (rally), and I will be calm and tell myself: ‘We have won it, let them celebrate now’,” she said.
