Ukraine Supreme Court recognises ‘de facto’ marriage of gay couple in landmark ruling

Ukraine’s Supreme Court has officially recognised the “de facto” marriage of LGBTQ+ activists Zoryan Kis and Tymur Levchuk in a landmark ruling delivered on 25 February.

The decision, announced by Ukrainian human rights organisation Insight LGBTQ on Monday (9 March), marks the first time the country’s highest court has upheld legal recognition of a same-sex couple as a family.

Kis and Levchuk had previously been recognised as a family by a Kyiv district court in June. That decision was later challenged by conservative movement Vsi Razom (All Together), which appealed the ruling.

Ukraine’s 1996 constitution states that marriage can only take place between two members of the opposite sex

However, the Supreme Court ultimately upheld the lower court’s decision, cementing what activists say is a historic legal precedent.

Ukraine’s 1996 constitution states that marriage can only take place between two members of the opposite sex.

The legal case began after Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry refused in 2024 to recognise Levchuk as Kis’s family member. As a result, Levchuk was denied the right to accompany Kis on a diplomatic posting to Israel.

Lawyers representing the couple argued successfully that they should be recognised as a family under Ukrainian law

Lawyers representing the couple argued successfully that they should be recognised as a family under Ukrainian law.

They pointed out that Kis and Levchuk had lived together since 2013, held an unofficial wedding ceremony in Ukraine in 2016, and officially registered their marriage in the United States in 2021.

Calling the Supreme Court’s ruling “a tremendous precedent”, Insight LGBTQ said the decision would prevent any “homophobic or conservative organisation” from using the courts “as a tool to persecute or overturn decisions in favor of LGBT+ people under the guise of ‘social morality’”.