Recognition of same-sex unions in Ukraine
[1][2] In August 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government was working on passing a civil partnership law that would provide same-sex couples with some of the rights and benefits of marriage."[15] On 23 November 2015, the Government of Ukraine approved an action plan to implement a "National Strategy on Human Rights" in the period up to 2020, which included the promise of drafting a bill creating civil partnerships for opposite-sex and same-sex couples by 2017.Oksana Solonska, the media communications manager of Kyiv Pride, said, "It is important that LGBTQ people have the right to see their partner and take their body from the morgue, and seek compensation if needed."In the modern world, the level of democratic society is measured, among other things, through state policy aimed at ensuring equal rights for all citizens.Ukraine is obliged under the European Court of Human Rights' ruling in Fedotova and Others v. Russia to provide legal recognition to same-sex unions."If [my] (partner) dies ... [I] won't be allowed even to bury [him] ... they might not let [me] into the hospital", said a cadet specialising in aerial reconnaissance who had joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.[40] The court ruled that Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights require the government to recognise same-sex unions:[12] As a result, same-sex couples were denied any opportunity to regulate fundamental aspects of life as a couple except certain property-related aspects, and then only as private individuals entering into contracts under the ordinary law.The Court has already held that such private contractual agreements cannot be considered to give recognition and the required protection to a couple, as they are limited in scope and fail to provide for basic rights.[41] The Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops in Ukraine issued a statement that it saw a "danger in ambiguous wording that causes divergent interpretations among the faithful".Surveys by Nash Svit for the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that opposition to same-sex civil unions had decreased from 69% in 2016 to 42% in 2022.[46] According to a June 2024 survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 29% of respondents said they supported civil partnerships for same-sex couples without the possibility to adopt, while 36% were opposed and 26% were "indifferent".
Marriage
Civil union
Limited domestic recognition (cohabitation)
Limited foreign recognition (residency rights)
Unrecognized
Constitution limits marriage to opposite-sex couples
¹ May include recent laws or court decisions that have not yet entered into effect.
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