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.

[8][9][10][11] Ukraine is also obliged to introduce a same-sex union law under a June 2023 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

[14] The wording of Article 51 is interpreted as banning same-sex marriage; however, Olha Sovgirya, a justice of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, believes that the Constitution does not prohibit same-sex marriage, arguing that the "emphasis in Article 51 is on the freedom of marrying a member of the opposite sex, and not on the fact that the parties should be of different sexes.

"[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.

[19] On 3 June 2022, an online petition was launched on the official website of the President of Ukraine calling for the legalization of same-sex marriage.

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.

LGBT groups described Zelenskyy's statement as "historic", and called on a bill to be passed as soon as possible: "People need this now", said Olena Shevchenko.

[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".