Civil Code does not discriminate against LGBT community - Stefanchuk

The draft of the new Civil Code does not discriminate against the LGBT community, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

"The claim that the Civil Code in some way restricts the rights of the LGBT community is not true," Stefanchuk said in a video posted on Facebook on Thursday.

He recalled that during the work on the draft law, an agreement was reached: in the event of disputes regarding individual provisions, they remain in the wording of the current legislation of Ukraine.

"You have seen significant discussions regarding certain provisions, in particular, regarding marriage from the age of 14 and other things that stirred Ukrainian society. In this draft of the Civil Code, they are canceled because we applied this principle… This also applies to issues related to LGBT families and LGBT marriages," Stefanchuk said.

He also emphasized that he voted for and signed the Istanbul Convention.

"But I clearly understand that any matters that do not fully correspond to Article 51 of the Constitution of Ukraine will undoubtedly generate disputes in the text of the Civil Code. That is why we left this regulation as it currently exists in Ukraine," Stefanchuk said.

However, he said that people’s deputies have the right to introduce initiatives to review this provision, and the Verkhovna Rada will have the opportunity to express its position on such proposals.

"But it seems to me that we need to be honest with ourselves. If we agreed not to include controversial matters in the draft Civil Code, then they should not be there," the speaker said.

As reported, on April 28, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the new Civil Code (No. 15150) in the first reading. On May 5, Stefanchuk began debunking myths existing in society regarding the draft Civil Code on Facebook.