- Homosexuality
- ⚢✔ Legal
- Gay Marriage
- ⚭✖ Banned
- Censorship
- ✔ No censorship
- Changing Gender
- ✖ Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
- Gender-Affirming Care
- ✔ Legal
- Non-Binary Gender Recognition
- ✖ Not legally recognized
- Discrimination
- ✖ Illegal in some contexts
- Employment Discrimination
- ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Housing Discrimination
- ✖ No protections
- Adoption
- ✖ Single only
- Intersex Infant Surgery
- ✖ Not banned
- Military
- ✔ Legal
- Donating Blood
- ✔ Legal
- Conversion Therapy
- ✖ Not banned
- Age of Consent
- ✔ Equal
Public Opinion
Recent studies in Ukraine have revealed a prevalence of resistance towards LGBTQ+ rights.
Perception of LGBTQ+ People
Survey results from 8 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited Ukraine.
Overall
Perceived Safety**Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.
Equal Treatment
Visibility & Representation
Culture
Services
History
Homosexual activity in Ukraine is legal.
Same-sex marriage in Ukraine is banned.
Censorship of LGBT issues in Ukraine is no censorship.
In 2007, the leader of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights called gay men "perverts" who must be stopped. Other MPs, namely Communist MP Leonid Grach, have listed homosexuality and lesbianism as evils the state must stop.
A draft law that would make it illegal to talk about homosexuality in public and in the media and to import, distribute, and broadcast video, photo, and audio products that "encourages homosexuality" (with penalties of up to five years in prison and fines for up to ₴5,000 (US$616)) was passed in first reading in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) on 2 October 2012. An estimated 20 community activists representing several organizations protested outside of the Verkhovna Rada building during the vote. On 4 October 2012, a second vote was tentatively scheduled for 16 October. This law was deemed homophobic by the LGBT community and human rights organisations and condemned by Amnesty International, the European Union, and the United Nations. The Venice Commission concluded in June 2013 that the bill was "incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and international human rights standards". In January 2015, the bill was removed from the agenda. A petition was subsequently started by anti-gay groups, calling for "measures to be taken to stop the propaganda of homosexuality and for defending family values". In March 2018, Ukraine's Anti-Discrimination Ombudsperson removed the petition from the electronic petitions section. By then, the petition had received 23,000 signatures and support from various religious organisations. The Ombudsman described the petition as "anti-freedom", and deleted it due to "containing calls to restrict human rights".
Right to change legal gender in Ukraine is legal, but requires medical diagnosis.
Gender-affirming care in Ukraine is legal.
Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Ukraine is not legally recognized.
LGBT employment discrimination in Ukraine is sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBT housing discrimination in Ukraine is no protections.
Intersex infant surgery in Ukraine is not banned.
Serving openly in military in Ukraine is legal.
According to law, homosexuality is not a reason for exemption from the army. However, many young gay men try to avoid call-up to military service, as they are afraid to face unauthorized relations and other difficulties. In 2018, Viktor Pylypenko, who had served in the Donbass area for two years during the Russia–Ukraine war, became the first Ukrainian soldier to come out publicly. In 2019, several gay soldiers in the Ukrainian army participated in a photo exhibition called "We are here". In 2021, Pylypenko was trying to organize a special unit in the Ukrainian army for LGBT soldiers.[42] In July 2021, Pylypenko stated there were 16 open LGBT soldiers in the Ukrainian army.
The 2022 Russian invasion resulted in an increased influx of openness and acceptance regarding LGBTQ soldiers in the Ukrainian military. A growing number of soldiers disclosed their identity, believing that they could fight not just for their home country but also against existing stereotypes. The invasion also saw the spread of "unicorn insignia" which Ukrainian LGBTQ soldiers sew onto their uniforms. The unicorn was chosen due to its nature as "fantastic 'non-existent' creature", sarcastically countering claims about there being no LGBT+ individuals in the Ukrainian military.
Blood donations by MSMs in Ukraine is legal.
Conversion therapy in Ukraine is not banned.
Equal age of consent in Ukraine is equal.
LGBT Rights by Region
View the LGBT laws in each individual region of Ukraine.
- Cherkas'ka Oblast'
- Chernihivs'ka Oblast'
- Chernivets'ka Oblast'
- Dnipropetrovs'ka Oblast'
- Donets'ka Oblast'
- Ivano-Frankivs'ka Oblast'
- Kharkivs'ka Oblast'
- Khersons'ka Oblast'
- Khmel'nyts'ka Oblast'
- Kirovohrads'ka Oblast'
- Kyïv
- Kyïvs'ka Oblast'
- L'vivs'ka Oblast'
- Luhans'ka Oblast'
- Mykolaïvs'ka Oblast'
- Odes'ka Oblast'
- Poltavs'ka Oblast'
- Rivnens'ka Oblast'
- Sevastopol'
- Sums'ka Oblast'
- Ternopil's'ka Oblast'
- Vinnyts'ka Oblast'
- Volyns'ka Oblast'
- Zakarpats'ka Oblast'
- Zaporiz'ka Oblast'
- Zhytomyrs'ka Oblast'
- Respublika Krym (Autonomous Republic)