Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

People instrumentality portion successful the yearly Gay Pride parade, nether the extortion of riot constabulary successful Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. Around 5 1000 LGBT activists and associations paraded successful the halfway of Kyiv. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV – Some 7,000 radical gathered successful Ukrainian superior connected Sunday for the yearly March for Equality to enactment the rights of the country's LGBT community.

Equipped with colorful costumes and rainbow flags, the assemblage marched down the cardinal streets of Kyiv, immoderate carrying banners speechmaking “Fight for right!” Participants announced 8 demands for Ukrainian authorities, including the legalization of civilian partnerships for LGBT radical and the instauration of laws against LGBT hatred crimes.

“We've grown bushed of waiting for alteration and enduring systematic intimidation, pressure, disruption of peaceful events, attacks connected activists and the LGBT community,” the marchers said successful a statement. “We request changes present and now, arsenic we privation to unrecorded freely successful our ain country."

The march was guarded by police, who sought to forestall clashes with far-right groups that effort to disrupt the lawsuit each year. Ukraine’s quality rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova urged extremist groups to refrain from violence.

Ad

“We're different, but we're equal,” Denisova said. “Ukraine's constitution has declared each radical adjacent successful their rights from birth, careless of immoderate characteristics, including intersexual predisposition and sex identity.”

Several 100 activists opposing the march held their ain rally successful a parkland successful Kyiv. No clashes person been reported.

Ukraine repealed transgression liability for homosexuality successful 1991. In 2015, Ukraine’s labour laws were amended to prohibition favoritism of LGBT radical successful the workplace.

However, blimpish groups successful the mostly Orthodox Christian state reason LGBT rights and members of far-right organizations regularly onslaught groups and events linked to the LGBT community. LGBT rights groups accidental Ukrainian constabulary often disregard homophobic oregon transphobic motives of the attacks, classifying them arsenic hooliganism.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.