Two days before the kick off of Euro 2012 is hosted in the Ukraine and Poland, gay rights campaigners AllOut.org members are joining with the first openly gay professional football player in Germany, Marcus Urban, in urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel to use Euro 2012 to denounce human rights violations and the anti-gay crackdown happening now in the Ukraine.
“We just learned that the anti-gay law is now scheduled for vote in two weeks,” said Olena Shevchenko, Chair of the Ukrainian LGBT organization Insight. “In a move to make it illegal for anyone in Ukraine to say the word “gay” in public, this anti-gay law – Law 8711 – is advancing through the Ukrainian Parliament, with no public opposition from the highest level of Ukrainian authorities.”
72, 000 people have already signed a letter to the President of Ukraine urging him to denounce the proposed anti-gay law.
Marcus Urban, an East German football player who came out in the 1990s has written an e-letter to the Chancellor, which has been signed by almost 20,000 AllOut.org members which reads “Chancellor Merkel, as Ukraine’s key trade partner, you should give Yanukovych a “red card” by refusing to attend this month’s Euro Cup and strongly urging him to denounce the laws in his Parliament that want to make saying “gay” illegal.”
“Germany is a key partner for Ukraine within the European Union and has a huge influence on the country”, said Andre Banks co-founder of AllOut.org. “If Chancellor Angela Merkel follows the lead of French officials and also boycotts Euro 2012, it will make headlines everywhere and pressure Yanukovych to finally denounce the laws in his Parliament that want to make saying ‘gay’ illegal.”
To view and sign the petition click here.
