-----------I=IELD NOTE The State of the LGBT Community and Homophobia in Ul\raine Tamara Martsenyul( Although Ukraine was the first of the former Soviet republics to repeal criminal sanctions for consensual homosexual intercourse between adults, many Ukrainians still regard homosexuality as deviant behavior, and public tolerance has even decreased in recent years. TAMARA MARTSENYUK teaches at the Department of Sociology at Kyiv- Mohyla Academy. Problems of Posi·Communism. vol. 59, no. 2, March/flpril2012. pp. 51-62 © 2012 Mt Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved ISSN $9.50 '000 DOI10.2753/PPC!075·8216J9D205 U KRAINE decriminalized homosexuality after gaining independence in December 1991. 1 But homophobia remains a challenge for Ukrainian society 2 The results of public opinion surveys demonstrate that the population is not ready to accept lesbian, gay, bisexual, and der (LGBT) people as citizens of Ukraine with human and civil rights, even though Ukraine-in transition to democracy, an open society, and equality-officially declares that all people have human rights. Integration with Europe demands the recognition of rights for LGBT people. Sooner or later, the Ukrainian authorities will face major conflicts of opinion over the LGBT community and the recognition of that community, the homophobic at- titudes and even hate crimes of Ukrainian society, church and moral/family values issues, media and hate speech, the international community, and human rights. In 2006, a group of international human rights experts met in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to outline a set of tiona! principles related to sexual orientation and gender identity. The result was "The Yogyakarta Principles: Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity." The introduction to the Yogyakarta Principles states: "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. All human rights are universal, interdepen- dent, indivisible, and interrelated. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person's dignity and humanity and must not be the basis for discrimination or abuse" (Yogyakarta Principles 2007, p. 6). The Yogyakarta Principles were again discussed in October 2008 at the international conference "Gay and Lesbian Rights Are Human Rights." The development of LGBT human rights Martsenyuk LGBT Community in Ukraine 51