Patriarch Filaret, the 91-year-old who heads Kyiv Patriarchate, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, made international headlines back in March when he blamed the novel coronavirus on same-sex marriage. Now, he is making headlines again. Why? According to the church, Filaret tested positive for the virus on Sep. 4 and has since been hospitalized. According to the church’s Facebook statement, he is in a stable condition and treatment is ongoing.
Now, if you’re wondering just how explicitly he blamed same-sex marriage, it was pretty cut and dry, according to translations. While appearing on a local TV station, Filaret as reported by The Independent, described the pandemic as punishment from God, brought on by “sinfulness of humanity; first of all, I mean same-sex marriage."
Ukraine is not particularly LGBTQ-friendly, though some advocates do report that things are changing in a positive direction. Still, on a structural level, Ukrainians do not have all the same protections as the rest of the population. For example, same-sex marriage is not recognized in Ukraine, and LGBTQ activists regularly report instances of discrimination and violence. While it may initially feel easy to dismiss such a homophobic comment as simple ridiculousness, religious leaders can have an enormous cultural impact. Even if something feels obviously untrue, when uttered by a person with power, marginalized folks may be at an increased risk because of it.
His homophobic comments back in March did generate backlash among LGBTQ activists in Ukraine at the time. Insight, and LGBTQ rights group in Ukraine, actually filed a lawsuit against him in the month following his comment, arguing that he was spreading false information, as reported by NBC News. The lawsuit asked for an apology and a correction from the network that aired it. However, the church backed Filaret’s right to say what he wanted.
Ukraine has been reporting major jumps in coronavirus cases, with more than 143,000 confirmed cases and close to 3,000 deaths.
