Alex Averbuch, assistant professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan, recently published an opinion essay in The New York Times examining the legal status of L.G.B.T.Q. Ukrainians during Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine
In the essay, Averbuch argues that Ukraine’s lack of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships leaves L.G.B.T.Q. soldiers and their loved ones vulnerable in moments of injury, death, medical crisis, inheritance, and burial. While L.G.B.T.Q. Ukrainians serve in the military, volunteer, evacuate civilians, pay taxes, and participate in the defense of the country, their partners may still be treated as legal strangers by the state.
Averbuch situates the issue within Ukraine’s broader struggle for freedom, democracy, and decolonization. He notes that Russia has used anti-L.G.B.T.Q. rhetoric as part of its claims to “traditional values,” while Ukraine’s democratic future depends on rejecting systems of exclusion and humiliation inherited from imperial and authoritarian structures. For Averbuch, equal rights are not a secondary concern to be postponed until after the war, but a central measure of the freedom Ukraine is defending.
The essay also highlights recent developments in Ukrainian law and public opinion, including a 2023 European Court of Human Rights ruling that found Ukraine’s lack of recognition for same-sex couples discriminatory, a stalled registered-partnership bill in Parliament, and growing public support for equal rights for L.G.B.T.Q. citizens.
Averbuch’s article underscores the human consequences of legal nonrecognition, especially for soldiers and families living with the daily realities of war. As he writes, freedom is not only an abstract national ideal, but also the right to stand beside, care for, and be recognized as family to the person one loves.
