Yelensky: Now churches oppose LGBT but will compromise for EU integration
Ukraine’s top official on religious affairs, Viktor Yelensky, said tensions over LGBT issues are inevitable, but churches may eventually compromise on LGBT-related issues as Ukraine advances toward EU membership.
Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), Viktor Yelensky, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine that attitudes toward LGBT issues will become a source of tension as Ukraine fulfills its commitments on the path to joining the European Union.
According to Yelensky, Christianity regards homosexual relationships as sinful, and “in certain respects these norms conflict with those prevailing in the West, particularly in European Union countries.”
He argued that friction between the positions of the EU and religious organizations is “inevitable.” At the same time, the DESS head expressed optimism, saying that although the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) has its own “red lines,” its members are capable of compromise.
As an example of churches’ willingness to accommodate government policies, Yelensky pointed to the issue of sex education in schools. He noted that whereas religious organizations had previously rejected such programs outright, UCCRO now accepts their necessity, raising only technical concerns about the content of textbooks.
As the UOJ reported, Ukrainian authorities are preparing a draft law on alternative service based on religious convictions.
