Supreme Court confirms legality of same-sex marriages in Ukraine

A session of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Photo: the Supreme Court website

The Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision of the Desniansky District Court of Kyiv, which for the first time in the country's history established "de facto marital relations" between two men – First Secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel Zorian Kis and public activist Tymur Levchuk.

The court rejected the cassation appeal of the public movement "All Together," which opposes the legalization of same-sex unions. The refusal was motivated by the fact that the organization allegedly is not a party to the case and the decision does not affect its rights and obligations. Thus, Ukraine's judicial system has effectively closed the possibility for the public to challenge such decisions through the courts.

LGBT organization "Insight", which supported the plaintiffs, called the Supreme Court's decision a "colossal precedent" that will not allow "homophobic and conservative organizations" to use courts to defend traditional values.

The reason for the initial court appeal was the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' refusal to allow the official to take his male partner on a foreign business trip since current legislation defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Thus, through judicial precedent, the legislative norm protecting the traditional understanding of marriage in Ukraine is effectively being circumvented.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that for the first time in Ukraine, an appellate court recognized the marriage gays as legal.

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