Rep of UOC-MP Asks Kyiv Authorities to Prohibit Gay Parade

The head of the Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) on Matters of Youth of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Iona (Cherepanov), forwarded an address to the Kyiv City Council with a request to prohibit the gay parade to be held as part of the Kyiv Pride 2012 on May 20, 2012, and to initiate the approval of legislative acts “to make sure that in the future the organization of such forums will be out of the question.”

“We strongly protest against this so-called cultural event in the capital. In our opinion, the propaganda of sexual perversion will undoubtedly do irreparable damage to the minds of young people and children who may witness this action and will provoke mass protest of the healthy part of the society which will use all possible legal means and methods to stop the agitation in support of sexual perversion. The Holy Bible calls satisfaction of the sensual need in the unnatural way a grave sin,” reads the document.

The bishop stressed that in the international International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, homosexuality is classified as an illness (302.0) which is a sexual perversion (302) of the “Mental and Behavior Disorders” class.