Stefanchuk discussed amendments to the draft of the new Civil Code with LGBT organizations

Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, held a meeting with representatives of LGBT organizations to discuss possible amendments to the draft of the new Civil Code. Activists stated the need to revise certain provisions of the document regarding the definition of family and proposed enshrining in law provisions related to the protection of the rights of the LGBT community.

According to “Insight, ” meeting participants expressed concern about the current draft of the new Civil Code. According to the source, representatives of various LGBT organizations presented a list of changes that, in their opinion, should be taken into account during further refinement of the document.

Among the activists’ key demands is the removal of wording from the draft that defines de facto family relationships exclusively as a union between a man and a woman. In addition, representatives of the organizations proposed integrating the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity into the text of the code, as well as providing for the legal recognition of same-sex partnerships entered into outside Ukraine.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, according to the source, stated that he has already submitted two amendments corresponding to parts of the proposals made. These amendments concern restoring the current definition of family and removing the provision defining a de facto union as the cohabitation of a man and a woman. The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada expressed his expectation that the relevant changes would be supported by deputies during the second reading.

Regarding the remaining issues, as noted, the head of parliament promised to hold additional consultations with members of parliament. Representatives of LGBT organizations, in turn, emphasized that without taking into account the entire set of proposals, the draft of the new Civil Code may not receive their support.