An estimated 7,000 people attended the Kyiv Pride Equality March on Sept. 19 in central Kyiv. LGBTQ+ community activists and allies called for more robust protection of LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine.
While homosexuality has been legal in Ukraine since 1991, homophobic attacks, mostly committed by far-right groups, are still common.
The organizers of the march called for the implementation of an anti-discrimination bill, which would introduce harsher punishments for hate crimes.
Despite a counter-protest being held by approximately 50 anti-LGBTQ+ activists near the route of the pride march, there were no police reports of public order violations.
In August, a notable hate attack allegedly occurred when a State Security Service (SBU) official assaulted dancer Yevheny Honcharenko outside a gay nightclub in central Kyiv, causing him to be put into a coma.
