State media report positively on lesbian wedding in Zaporizhzhia
Lesbians in Zaporizhzhia. Photo: "Suspilne Zaporizhzhia"
On October 3, 2025, the regional branch of the Ukrainian National Public Broadcasting Company (NSTU) "Suspilne Zaporizhzhia" published an extensive article about the celebration of a same-sex wedding in Zaporizhzhia.
The article features psychiatrist Valeria Holovatenko and fitness trainer Anastasia Kalashnik. The publication shares the story of their meeting two years ago, the reaction of their relatives, and the details of the wedding celebration that took place in September 2025.
"The partners decided not to hide their identity and made the marriage public," reports the state media. The article contains numerous photos of the couple, quotes from the participants, and screenshots of positive comments from social networks.
Special attention in the publication is given to the women's plans for having children together. "We decided that we would simply get pregnant from one donor so that we would have biological children," the publication quotes one of the ceremony participants.
NSTU is a state public broadcasting company of Ukraine, created in 2015 and funded from the state budget. The company is positioned as the Ukrainian equivalent of the BBC.
At the end of the article, "Suspilne" notes that the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine have supported the adoption of a bill on the registration of same-sex partnerships. It is noted that same-sex marriages are not legally recognized in Ukraine according to the Family Code.
The publication caused a mixed reaction in Ukrainian society.
"Why don't you write about traditional weddings? But if it's non-traditional, you write? If rights are equal, then rights are equal. Write about every wedding already," wrote Serhii Serhii.
"The only question is: why promote this? Children are watching all this. Why break children's psyche?" asks Marina Valerievna.
"Why make this public! They got married, and that's it. Why do we need this?" writes Alla Klimenko.
"If you think this is normal, then why, despite the fact that these are two same-sex individuals, does one of them still play the role of a man: habits, gestures, clothing???" questions Angelina Francen.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that an open homosexual was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Culture.
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