Servicemen rejecting medals from UOC-KP after it refused to award a gay

An award from the UOC-KP. Photo: Military LGBT+ TV channel

Five military personnel and volunteers have refused their awards from the UOC-KP in solidarity with the gay military member Viktor Pylypenko, from whom Filaret revoked the medal after learning about his sexual orientation, reports Zmina.

Military men Ilia Korotenko and Ivan Havrylko, as well as volunteers Pavlo Shatokhin, Natalia Solovyeva, and Olena Kolomiichuk, have all rejected the medal, the inadmissibility of discrimination against LGBT+ individuals and calling on other military personnel to do the same.

"We urge the authorities to finally implement the necessary bills to protect the community defending the state. After all, you can annul an award, but you can never annul freedom," the statement by LGBT+ activists says.

The human rights LGBT centre "Our World" recalled that Filaret was a bishop of the UOC from 1962 to 1992 and did not even deny that he collaborated with the Soviet KGB.

As reported, the UOC-KP revoked the award from the military member Viktor Pylypenko and accused him of lying after he claimed to have been awarded a medal by Filaret for belonging to the LGBT community.

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