All-Ukrainian Council of Churches calls on the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada to reject draft laws on gender
AUCCRO is concerned over the fact that on Tuesday, June 16, the Parliament added to the agenda of the third session draft laws No. 3316, No. 3316-2 and No. 3316-3, which are entrusted to the relevant committee to prepare and finalize for consideration.
A meeting of the law enforcement Committee to review these draws is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17.
According to the AUCCRO, both draft law No. 3316 and alternative drafts No. 3316-2 and No. 3316-3 contain problematic norms that tighten criminal liability for crimes if a person has “prejudices, prejudices, stereotypical views”.
According to the Council of Churches, these categories are subjective and are in a plane that cannot be objectively assessed from the point of view of the law. However, attempts to introduce such a precedent, when officials will determine what criminal prejudices and stereotypes are, and what are "normal", "acceptable" views of a person, are of concern.
Religious figures note that this approach contains signs of violation of the constitutional right of a person to freedom of thought, conscience and expression, because the state power is vested with the right to evaluate a person's beliefs and, depending on this, increase or decrease the punishment.
Earlier, the SBU sent an appeal to the Parliamentary Committee arguing for the rejection of draft law No. 3316, stating that this initiative directly threatens criminal prosecution of participants in pro-family peace actions that will advocate the promotion of natural marital relations only between a man and a woman.
The All-Ukraine Council of Churches and Religious Organizations calls on the Parliamentary Committee on law enforcement to reject draft law No. 3316 and alternative draft laws No. 3316-2 and No. 3316-3, which intend to counter hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as they need to be significantly refined.
Earlier, 58 MP of Ukraine from different parliamentary factions sent a collective parliamentary appeal to the Chairman of the Committee on law enforcement with criticism of this legislative initiative and a request to consider the arguments of churches and religious organizations.
