OCU clergy call for gay pride parade to be moved from Kyiv to Donbas

LGBT activist fundraising for Sternenko. Photo: Kyivpride Facebook

"Priest" of the OCU Roman Hryshchuk called for the gay pride parade to be relocated from Kyiv to Pokrovsk or Kostiantynivka. He wrote about this on Facebook, reposting the comments of another OCU cleric, Andriy Holovkov.

OCU members were outraged that the organizers of the LGBT event in Kyiv chose St. Michael’s Square as the venue – a site that hosts the cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Clergy loyal to Dumenko expressed concern that foreign or hostile media might portray them as participants in the parade.

They warned that the LGBT march in Kyiv plays into Russia’s hands, stating: "These images from Kyiv are shown in the Senate and Congress of the USA, where the majority are Republicans, and they say, 'Here is Russia with traditional values, and here is Ukraine with gay parades, whom do you want to support?'"

"And, of course, in the eyes of the Republican Party, Russians look better, and we lose support. Because of such actions in our rear, we lose the main support – God's, because we silently allow this to happen," wrote the OCU clerics.

Hryshchuk and Holovkov did not clarify why they suggested holding the pride parade specifically in the Donbas.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Kyiv-based LGBT activists held a demonstration outside the OCU cathedral.

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