A bisexual military man won a court case against the Lviv Regional Council, which opposed LGBT partnerships

The Lviv Regional Council opposed civil partnerships – the court found it illegal

With love of photography/Getty Images

The Lviv District Administrative Court recognized as illegal the appeal of the Lviv Regional Council to the state leadership with the demand to prevent the adoption of the draft law “On the Institute of Registered Partnerships”.

The author of the lawsuit against the Lviv Regional Council is the bisexual serviceman Petro Zherukha, who also created petition in support of registered partnerships.

The court’s decision is dated September 6 and published on the website of the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

In April 2023, the Lviv Regional Council submitted an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada, the President of Ukraine, and the Cabinet of Ministers, in which it expressed its attitude to the draft law on registered partnerships and demanded to prevent its consideration and introduction of partnerships.

Military Petro Zherukha, who filed a lawsuit against the ENT

peter_zherukha/Instagram

The deputies noted that it “contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine, the Family Code of Ukraine, the will of Ukrainian citizens and the moral foundations of Ukrainian society.”

“The authors of the draft law manipulatively and aggressively oppose the homosexual agenda to the Polish worldview, thus equating opponents of homosexuality with pro-Russian elements.

Therefore, their proposal to grant state recognition to homosexual unions is equated with concern for the army, stressing that due to the small number of homosexuals in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the state must fulfill the requirements of LGBT people. – said the appeal.

On May 22, 2023, bisexual soldier Petro Zherukha filed a lawsuit to the Lviv Regional Council, calling the appeal of the deputies “illegal”. He noted that:

• making decisions on the issues raised does not belong to the powers of the ENT;
• the appeal is an incitement to discrimination, which is prohibited by law;
• ENT violated the procedure for adopting a disputed decision in the part of the early publication of the appeal draft.

According to court documents, the regional council did not admit its guilt, calling the claims of Petr Zherukha “unfounded”.

“Having evaluated the evidence in the case, according to its internal conviction, which is based on its direct, comprehensive, complete and objective investigation, and, taking into account all the circumstances, the court came to the conclusion that the claim is satisfied in full.” – says the court decision.

Therefore, the Lviv Regional Council must pay 1,073 hryvnias in court fees to the plaintiff.

We will remind, in March 2023, deputy Inna Sovsun submitted the draft law on civil (registered) partnerships to the Verkhovna Rada. It provides for the official registration of partnerships, which should be available to heterosexual and same-sex couples.

According to the draft law, civil partners are equated with close relatives. They have property and inheritance rights, social protection, but cannot adopt children or take custody of them.

In June 2023, a petition in support of the draft law on registered partnerships scored 25 thousand votes.

At the same time, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine spoke against its adoption, because it allegedly “contradicts the natural law established by God, violates the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine regarding the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Previously, the draft law already received the support of five committees of the Verkhovna Rada: youth and sports committee, Committee on European Integrationcommittee on digital transformation, committee of social policy and protection of veterans’ rights and the committee on the health of the nation supported the draft law on civil partnerships.

In October 2023, his too supported Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice. Although previously at the Ministry of Defense opposed the draft law, because they believed that it contradicts the Constitution and discriminates against military personnel who enter into traditional marriages.