In June of this year, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified the Istanbul Convention, which caused a great outcry in society. Moreover, the representatives of almost all religious denominations of the country spoke categorically against the adoption of the convention and the principles it imposes on the Ukrainian people.
Serhiy Shutov, the head of the "Noble Cause" charitable foundation, head of the youth wing of the "Batkivshchyna" party in Odesa, commented on the difficult situation in which the Ukrainian society found itself to "ElitExpert".
"There are many questions before the ratification of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine. First, such a sensitive topic must be discussed in society, or be submitted to a national referendum. Secondly, it is not clear why the authorities were in such a hurry to adopt it when we are at war, and this issue is certainly not timely. Thirdly, the authorities justified the importance of its adoption as one of the conditions for joining the European Union, which is not true.
After the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, it appeared on the website of the President of Ukraine petition with the demand to denounce the Law on its adoption, initiated by Yulia Tymoshenko.
Today, I am a member of the "Batkivshchyna" team in the Odesa region, so together with the organization's leadership, we immediately started collecting signatures for the petition, because this convention is unacceptable for me personally and the future of my children.
Under the guise of combating domestic violence, the ideological, worldview and medical concepts of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" are introduced into Ukrainian legislation as legal terms that blur and replace the concept of biological sex by introducing the category of gender.
We held meetings and discussed the issue of supporting the petition with representatives of various religious trends in Odesa, who expressed an unequivocal and categorical position on the Istanbul Convention," emphasized Serhiy Shutov.
He added that this position was supported by the Spiritual Council of Christians of Odesa region, at a meeting with which representatives of eight religious organizations of Christians of Odesa signed a joint appeal to the President regarding the denunciation of the Law on Ratification of the Convention. This is the Bishop of Odesa and the Baltic Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the head of the Prosvita Evangelical Christian Baptist Church and others.
"Regarding the issue of accepting the Istanbul Convention as one of the conditions for joining the European Union, this is not the case today, because a number of European countries - Great Britain, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Armenia and Turkey - have already refused from its ratification, therefore our country should approach this issue in a balanced manner and taking into account the opinion of society.
Ignoring the fact of the existence of biological genders that characterize a woman or a man, the obligation to teach children non-stereotypical gender roles carries the threat of distorting the young generation's sexual identity and destroying the institution of the family in Ukraine," the politician emphasized.
