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Vitali Klitchko: “I’m not standing for Lesbians and Gays!”

06.11.2014 | cb — No comments
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The Eurocities Conference gathered European cities together in Bavarian capital Munich today. Kyiv city, one of the participants, is suffering nowadays with many problems. Gas supply, high prices, poverty are on the top – as well as growing aggression against LGBT-people.

But Vitali Klitchko, the Kyiv City Mayor since May 2014, is not interested in the last topic. He has expressed his view to Munich City Council representative Lydia Dietrich (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) during the Eurocities Conference. Lydia Dietrich belongs to the Green Party in Munich’s City Council and since 2012 participates actively in the partnership between Kyiv and Munich which happen to be twin cities. She asked Klitchko to support the fight for Human Rights.

We remind you that a few days ago, Zhovten cinema – hosting the film festival Molodist – was burned down. Probably, people from the Ukrainian far right scene are responsible for this. They set fire when the cinema showed a movie about Drag Queens in France’s 50ies (“”) as Molodist has also many f LGBT-movies in its programme. This part of the programme is called “Sunny Bunny” film festival.

Vitali Klitchko was really angry being asked about the Zhovten case. The Kyiv City Mayor answered that Human Rights were good, but that he would not stay for LGBT-rights. This was so awful for many activists from Ukraine and Germany. “After the homophobic attack on the Zhovten cinema, Vitali Klitchko even has not realized that Human Rights of the LGBT-people were affected. This is a dramatic ignorance and disregard of elementary rights that obviously apply to LGBT”, said Lydia Dietrich.

Taras Karasiichuk, Executive Diretor of the NGO Gay Alliance Ukraine in Kyiv, commented: “I am deeply disappointed about the statement of Mr. Klitchko. Revolution of dignity has happened to assure equal rights of all Ukrainians and citizens of Kyiv regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Our Mayor, as one of the most active politicians on Maidan, has to be a flagship of positive transformations in our country. But his statement is an oxymoron – he is standing for Human Rights, but not for LGBT-people. It is impossible. There are no specific Human Rights for heterosexual people or for LGBT. Human Rights are Human Rights. All other positions are discriminatory and manipulative.”

Klitchko has promised to rebuild the Zhovten cinema but by now has not accepted to speak of a possible hate crime in this case unlike the U.S. do.

[Olena Semenova, Conrad Breyer]

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