The book, entitled Maya and her Moms, is about 17 children with 17 different families and was written by Author Larysa Denysenko, to teach children about diversity.
The Author, Larysa Denysenko, wrote Maya and her Moms to educate young children about the diversity of families in society today.
The book was due to be publicised at the Lviv Book Forum on September 15th but had to withdrawn from the event, after the Forum Organisers and City Officials received warnings from 15 far right radical organisations, including the UltraNationalist Right Sector which sent a letter stating: "If you fail to act, we will be forced to take all possible measures to prevent this blatantly provocative act to take place in Lviv" and going onto say that the book was "destructive propaganda for non-traditional values".
Denysenko, who was made a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations, on September 9th, for campaigning for the rights of children, made this statement via Facebook:
"I try to convey the message that a child needs a loving family, where they feel protected, and it does not matter how it is labeled by anyone".
Her publishers have now made the book freely available to download.
LGBT in Ukraine.
Despite LGBT becoming legal in the Ukraine since 1991, threats of violence and intolerance mean many in the LGBT community remain in the closet. This year alone, Organisers of the Kviv Pride March were face with death threats.
Since the pro-west government took power in 2014, the authorities have attempted to be more supportive of the LGBT community and, in 2015, Laws were passed outlawing any workplace discrimination against the community.
However, LGBT couples are not afforded any legal protection available to heterosexual couples. The Government did draft a bill of legalisation for civil partnerships in the same year but the Conservative and Religious parties have kept the bill up in the air.
In a poll undertaken in 2017, approx 85% of Ukrainians were opposed to the idea of same sex marriage. Is it any wonder when religious and conservative groups are spouting such hate and intolerance. For example, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk recently denouced homosexuality as a sin tantamount to manslaughter and the group 'Love against Homosexuality' think LGBT people are 'perverts' that need therapy and religious programmes.
