Putin has sought to exploit this over the years, offering himself as a champion of conservative values. This is one of the arguments against EU membership: that it would enforce social norms not accepted by the majority. A poll in May showed just 24 per cent of Ukrainians support same-sex marriage, up from 4 per cent six years ago. The debate on LGBT rights hits a fault line in Ukrainian society – as it does in many post-Soviet countries. He offered the below photo of him in drag during his career as an actor. I think I'm being persecuted, no? I demand tolerance’.
But look at this photo and you'll understand who should be truly outraged.
On his Facebook page, Oleksiy Arestovych answered with a joke, ‘The LGBT community is outraged and talking about my resignation. ‘You have no moral right to say that as long as hundreds of LGBT+ people, along with everyone else, defend Ukraine’, they added. But KyivPride has another argument: that the war has demonstrated that gay Ukrainians deserve equality. A reference to action that Brussels is taking against Hungary for its stance on LGBT rights. ‘I sympathise with them, but I am against propaganda’.Ĭue outrage, with KyivPride demanding Zelensky fire Arestovych for homophobic statements, ‘Such rhetoric from Ukrainian authorities is unacceptable if we want to be in the EU’. ‘LGBT people are deviant,’ he said on 19 June. But when it comes to sex, he has some clear views. Oleksiy Arestovych is a familiar figure in Ukraine and has developed a profile abroad, described as a ‘sex symbol’ by no less a source than the Economist. A peculiar row has broken out in Kyiv over the role of one of Zelensky’s best-known advisers.