Ukraine recognises a marriage of two gay men for the first time

Court recognises gay couple as a family.

In Kyiv, the Desnianskyi District Court has officially recognized the marital relationship between two men — Zoryan Kiss and Timur Levchuk. This decision sets a legal precedent for the recognition of same-sex relationships in Ukraine.

Zoryan and Timur are a well-known gay couple and human rights defenders. Zoryan Kiss is a project coordinator at the international organization Freedom House and one of the founders of KyivPride. Timur Levchuk leads the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ rights organization "Fulcrum UA" (Tochka Opory). The couple has been together since 2013 and officially married in the United States in 2021.

In June 2024, Zoryan was appointed First Secretary at the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel. He intended to bring his husband with him, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to recognize Timur as a family member, citing Ukrainian law that defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman.

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