Abstract
Although sexual rights of LGBT people are internationally disputed, a global norm on LGBT acceptance and non-discrimination has been established since the 1970s as an outcome of the gay rights movement in Western Europe and North America. However, norm-challenging authoritative voices are still powerful not only in domestic contexts, but also in international forums. In this contribution, we argue that this degree of contestation matters for the attempt to localize sexual rights. Drawing on the literature on norm contestation and norm localization, we explore the techniques both norm entrepreneurs and norm antipreneurs use in Ukraine in order to advocate for or against sexual rights. The contribution is based on reports, statements, and several interviews which were conducted in Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.
The article is based on a research project on the localization of reproductive and sexual rights, which was funded by the Fritz-Thyssen-Foundation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Norm antipreneurs can be understood as actors who oppose normative change and, therefore, as Bloomfield and Scott (2017) suggest, use different ways of normative resistance towards liberalization.
- 2.
Translations from Russian by Kerstin Zimmer.
- 3.
We use both the terms ‘LGBT’ and ‘LGBTI’, depending on context. While the ‘I’, denoting ‘intersex’, did not play a role during the initial liberalization process and early effort at international institutionalization, it has recently entered various documents. For the Ukrainian case, we use ‘LGBT’ because this is the way activists frame their concerns. The few small organisations for intersex people oppose its instrumentalization by larger gay and lesbian groups. Even the ‘B’ and ‘T’ groups hardly influence the domestic discourse, which continues to be dominated by gays and lesbians.
- 4.
For a complete list of organisations with consultative status, see: http://esango.un.org/civilsociety/getByAllHavingStatus.do?method=getByAllHavingStatus&searchType=csSearch.
- 5.
This is epitomized by the widespread usage of the word ‘homosexualism’—instead of homosexuality. The suffix -ism implies an ideology.
- 6.
Ukraine is a multi-religious country, with a dominance of Eastern Orthodox Churches, which are split into three rivalling organisations: the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kyiv Patriarchate, and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church. Moreover, there are the Greek Catholic and the Roman Catholic Churches, as well as various smaller Protestant congregations. Despite the sometimes-fierce competition between them, these Churches are united in their rejection of LGBT rights. The small Jewish and Muslim minorities hardly contribute to the conflict.
- 7.
AUCCRO was established in 1996 and represents all major denominations in Ukraine, in particular the various Orthodox, the Greek and Roman Catholics, various Protestant associations, Jews, and Muslims.
References
Acharya, A. (2004). How Ideas Spread: Whose Norms Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism. International Organization, 58(2), 239–275.
Altman, D. (2002). Globalization and the International Gay/Lesbian Movement. In D. Richardson & R. Seidman (Eds.), The Handbook of Lesbian & Gay Studies (p. 415). London: Sage.
Anderson-Levitt, K. (2003). A World Culture of Schooling? Local Meanings, Global Schooling: Anthropology and World Culture Theory (pp. 1–26). New York: Palgrave.
Anonymous. (2015). Untitled Video. http://pinchukartcentre.org/en/exhibitions/29397/patriots-citizens-lovers/anonymous. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Behrends, A., Park, S. J., & Rottenburg, R. (2014). Travelling Models: Introducing an Analytical Concept to Globalisation Studies: Travelling Models in African Conflict Management: Translating Technologies of Social Ordering (pp. 1–40). Boston: Brill.
Berkovitch, N., & Bradley, K. (1999). The Globalization of Women’s Status: Consensus/Dissensus in the World Polity. Sociological Perspectives, 42(3), 481–498.
Bloomfield, A., & Scott, S. (2017). Norm Antipreneurs in World Politics: Norm Antipreneurs and the Politics of Resistance to Global Normative Change (pp. 1–19). Milton Park: Routledge.
Bonacker, T., Von Heusinger, J., & Zimmer, K. (2017). Localization in Development Aid: How Global Institutions Enter Local Lifeworlds. London and New York: Routledge.
Bonacker, T., Von Heusinger, J., & Zimmer, K. (2014). Reproduktive Gesundheit in der Weltgesellschaft zwischen Politisierung und Rationalisierung. Berliner Journal für Soziologie, 24(3), 309–338.
Boyle, E. (2002). Female Genital Cutting: Cultural Conflict in the Global Community. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Boyle, E., Kim, M., & Longhofer, W. (2015). Abortion Liberalization in World Society, 1960–2009. American Journal of Sociology, 121(3), 882–913.
Breyer, C. (2013). Nach dem Kyivpride: Die LGBTI-Community des Landes setzt ihre Hoffnungen auf Europa. Ukraine-Analysen, 120, 2–6.
Breyer, C. (2016). Trotz EU-Kurs: Homo- und Transphobie in der Ukraine wachsen. Ukraine-Analysen, 166, 16–19.
Chabbott, C. (2014). Institutionalizing Health and Education for All: Global Goals, Innovations, and Scaling Up. New York: Teachers College Press.
Coalition for Combating Discrimination in Ukraine. (n.d.). Members. http://www.antidi.org.ua/ua/coalition/members. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Cobb, N. (2014). Rethinking the ‘World Polity’ Perspective on Global Sodomy Law Reform. In D. Peters & V. R. Panfil (Eds.), Handbook of LGBTI Communities, Crime, and Justice (pp. 283–310). New York: Springer.
COWI. (2010). Study on Homophobia, Transphobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Sociological Report: Ukraine.
Deitelhoff, N., & Zimmermann, L. (2013). Things We Lost in the Fire: How Different Types of Contestation Affect the Validity of International Norms, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Working Paper 13). Frankfurt.
EUobserver. (2015). Ukraine Gives Equal Rights to Gay Workers, to Please Brussels. https://euobserver.com/LGBTI/131098. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
EU Ukraine Civil Society Platform. (2016). Anti-discrimination Legislation and Practice: The Rights of Vulnerable Groups in the Context of the Association Agreement. In November 3rd meeting (pp. 8–9), Kyiv. https://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/report_ukrainian_side_anti_discrimination_tyschchenko.docx. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Euractiv. (2017). Eurovision Shines Spotlight on LGBTI Struggle in Ukraine. https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eurovision-shines-spotlight-on-LGBTI-struggle-in-ukraine/. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Frank, D., & McEneaney, E. H. (1999). The Individualization of Society and the Liberalization of State Policies on Same-Sex-Relations, 1984–1995. Social Forces, 77, 911–944.
Gavriliv, M. (2017). Let Us Protect a Real Family and Our Children. Divensvit. http://dyvensvit.org/in-english/1008960. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Gay Alliance Ukraine. (2016a). He в фoкyce: ЛГБT нa фpoнтe. http://upogau.org/ru/ourview/ourview_3308.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Gay Alliance Ukraine. (2016b). «Я гей, я был в АТО, я видел смерть, и я — патриот своей страны». http://upogau.org/ru/ourview/ourview_3345.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Gay Alliance Ukraine. (2016c). National Strategy: LGBTI Are Promised Partnerships, Transgender—The Right to Adopt. https://upogau.org/eng/inform/publications/ourview_3300.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Gorbach, D. (2015). The Struggle for Progressive Politics in Ukraine. Open Democracy. https://www.opendemocracy.net/denis-gorbach/struggle-for-progressive-politics-in-ukraine. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Hulme, D. (2009). Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals: Politics, Ethics, Evidence and an “Unholy Alliance.” Manchester: Brooks World Poverty Institute. http://www.bwpi.manchester.ac.uk/resources/Working-Papers/bwpi-wp-10509.pdf. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Inoue, K., & Drori, G. S. (2006). The Global Institutionalization of Health as a Social Concern. International Sociology, 21, 199–219.
IRS (2007). Deklaratsiya Vseukrainskogo Soveta Tserkvei i religioznykh organizatsi «O negativnom otnoshenii k yavleniyu gomoseksualizma i popytkam legalizatsii tak nazyvaemykh odnopolykh brakov (registratsii odnopolykh partnerstv)». http://www.irs.in.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328&catid=50&Itemid=78&lang=ru. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
IRS. (2010a). Prot. Georgii Kovalenko: “Tserkov’ prizyvaet ukrainskie vlasti i mezhdunarodnoe soobshhestvo vsestoronne podderzhivat’ i zashchishchat’ traditsionnye moral’nye i semejnye tsennosti”. http://www.irs.in.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=519%3A1&catid=36%3Acom&Itemid=63&lang=ru. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
IRS. (2010b). Glavy Khrystyyans’kykh Cerkov initsiyuyut’ spivpratsyu z MZS ta Ministerstvom kul’tury. http://www.irs.in.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=675%3A1&catid=34%3Aua&Itemid=61&lang=uk. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Khodakivskyi, M. (2014). Protidyia Diskriminiatsii za Oznakoyu Seksual’noi Orientatsyi ta Gendernoi Identichnosti v Ukrainy. Derzhava i Pravo, 66, 297–307.
Kristoffersson, M., et al. (2016). European Integration and LGBTI Activism: Partners in Realising Change? In K. Slootmaeckers, et al. (Eds.), The EU Enlargement and Gay Politics: The Impact of Eastern Enlargement on Rights, Activism and Prejudice (pp. 45–67). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Levitt, P., & Merry, S. (2009). Vernacularization on the Ground: Local Uses of Global Women’s Rights in Peru, China, India and the United States. Global Networks, 9(4), 441–461.
Linde, R. (2017). Gatekeeper Persuasion and Issue Adoption: Amnesty International and the Transnational LGBTIQ Network. Journal of Human Rights, 17(2), 1–20.
Love Against Homosexualism. (n.d.). Manifest. http://love-contra.org/index.php/about/manifesto/. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Majmulachin, A., & Zintschenko, A. (2013). LGBTI und die ukrainische Politik. Interview mit Andrij Majmulachin und Aleksandr Zintschenkow von der LGBTI-Organisation »Nash Mir«, Kiev«. Ukraine-Analysen, 120, 9–11.
Martsenyuk, T. (2012). The State of the LGBTI Community and Homophobia in Ukraine. Problems of Post-Communism, 59(2), 51–62.
Martsenyuk, T. (2016). Sexuality and Revolution in Post-Soviet Ukraine: LGBTI Rights and the Euromaidan Protests of 2013–2014. Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, 2(1), 49–74.
McGoldrick, D. (2016). The Development and Status of Sexual Orientation Discrimination Under International Human Rights Law. Human Rights Law Review, 16(4), 613–668.
Merry, S. (2006). Transnational Human Rights and Local Activism: Mapping the Middle. American Anthropologist, 108(1), 38–51.
Meyer, J. W. (2000). Globalization: Sources and Effects on National States and Societies. International Sociology, 15(2), 233–248.
Meyer, J. W., Boli J., George M. T., & Ramirez, F. O. (1997). World Society and the Nation-State. American Journal of Sociology, 103(1), 144–181.
Mole, R. C. M. (2016). Nationalism and Homophobia in Central and Eastern Europe. In K. Slootmaeckers et al. (Eds.), The EU Enlargement and Gay Politics: The Impact of Eastern Enlargement on Rights, Activism and Prejudice (pp. 19–44). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pagulich, L. (2016). Chi Mozhlivo Kviriti Natsiyu: Intersektsiinist’ i Kvir-Politiki. Political Critique.
Poroshenko, P. (2016). President’s Speech at the Munich Security Conference 2016. http://www.president.gov.ua/en/videos/vistup-prezidenta-ukrayini-na-myunhenskij-bezpekovij-konfere-182. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Riabov, A., & Riabova, T. (2014). The Decline of Gayropa? How Russia Intends to Save the World. Eurozine. https://www.eurozine.com/the-decline-of-gayropa/.
Risse, T. (2002). Transnational Actors and World Politics. In W. Carlsnaes, T. Risse, & B. Simmons (Ed.), Handbook of International Relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
RISU. (2016). Thousands of Believers March Through Center of Kyiv for Protection of Children and Families. https://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/community/religion_and_society/63586/. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Roberts, L., & Hay L. (2017). The Globalization of the Acceptance of Homosexuality: Mass Opinion and National Policy. Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Schofer E., & Meyer J. W. (2005). The World-Wide Expansion of Higher Education in the Twentieth Century. American Sociological Review, 70, 898–920.
Shevchenko, I. (2016). Kiev Pride 2016: Why Are Ukraine’s Politicians Silent on Attacks Against LGBTI People? International Business Times.
Shevtsova, M. (2017). Learning the Lessons from the Euromaidan: The Ups and Downs of LGBTI Activism in the Ukrainian Public Sphere. Kyiv-Mohyla Law & Politics Journal, 3, 157–180.
Slootmaeckers, K., et al. (2016). Introduction: EU Enlargement and LGBTI Rights—Beyond Symbolism? In K. Slootmaeckers, et al. (Eds.), The EU Enlargement and Gay Politics: The Impact of Eastern Enlargement on Rights, Activism and Prejudice (pp. 1–16). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Strelnyk, O. (2017). Conservative Parents’ Mobilization in Ukraine. In K. Fabian & E. Korolczuk (Eds.), Rebellious Parents: Parental Movements in Central-Eastern Europe and Russia (pp. 61–90). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Teteriuk, M. (2016a, February 22). A Litmus Test for Post-Maidan Democracy. Anti-Discrimination Legislation. Eurozine. https://www.eurozine.com/a-litmus-test-for-post-maidan-democracy/.
Teteriuk, M. (2016b). Between ‘the Russian World’ and ‘the Ukrainian Nation’: Kyiv Pride Before and After Euromaidan. http://www.iwm.at/transit/transit-online/between-the-russian-world-and-the-ukrainian-nation-kyiv-pride-before-and-after-euromaidan/. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
UGCC. (2010). Vseukrainska Rada Tserkov i Religiynih Organizatsiy vistupila na zahist traditsiynih simeynih tsinnostey. http://news.ugcc.ua/news/vseukrainska_rada_tserkov_i_religiynih_organizatsiy_vistupila_na_zahist_traditsiynih_simeynih_tsinnostey_57910.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
UGCC. (2012). Gomoseksualizm nese zagrozu simeynim tsinnostyam_ zvernennya UGKTs i RKTs. http://news.ugcc.ua/news/gomoseksualizm_nese_zagrozu_simeynim_tsinnostyam__zvernennya_ugkts_i_rkts_62717.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Ukrainian Crusade. (2017). Once Again Nationalists Prevented the LGBTI to Dishonor the Capital of Ukraine. https://ukrainiancrusade.blogspot.de//2017/06/once-again-nationalists-prevented-LGBTI.html. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
UNCHR. (2012, March 12). Human Rights Council Panel on Ending Violence and Discrimination Against Individuals Based on Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Geneva. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Discrimination/LGBTI/SummaryHRC19Panel.pdf. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Vil”ni bo obiznani. (2015). These Ukrainian Billboards Are Aiming to Combat Anti-LGBTI Discrimination. Buzzfeed News. http://tolerance.in.ua/novosti/smi-o-nas/item/182-buzzfeed-news-these-ukrainian-billboards-are-aiming-to-combat-anti-LGBTI-discrimination. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.
Wiener, A. (2008). The Invisible Constitution of Politics: Contested Norms and International Encounters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wilson, A. R. (2009). The ‘Neat Concept’ of Sexual Citizenship: A Cautionary Tale for Human Rights Discourse. Contemporary Politics, 15(1), 73–85.
Zimmermann, L. (2010). Same Same or Different? Local Reactions to Democracy Promotion Between Take-Over and Appropriation: Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (Working Paper 2). Frankfurt.
Zimmermann, L. (2016). Same Same or Different? Norm Diffusion Between Resistance, Compliance, and Localization in Post-conflict States. In International Studies Perspectives, 17(1), 98–115.
Zimmermann, L. (2017). More for Less: The Interactive Translation of Global Norms in Postconflict Guatemala. International Studies Quarterly, 61, 774–785.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bonacker, T., Zimmer, K. (2020). The Localization of Sexual Rights in Ukraine. In: Buyantueva, R., Shevtsova, M. (eds) LGBTQ+ Activism in Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20401-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20400-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20401-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)