Sunny Bunny Film Festival in Kyiv caused a wave of criticism due to the overlap with Easter holidays: organizers' response
Kyiv • UNN
The first Ukrainian LGTBQIA+ film festival in Kyiv caused criticism due to the overlap with Easter holidays. The organizers called it a coincidence, and the police recorded gatherings of negatively inclined youth near the cinema without violations.
Today, the first Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ film festival, Sunny Bunny, was supposed to take place in Kyiv, but the event caused a wave of criticism due to its date, which fell on the Easter holidays, specifically Good Friday. The police reported that negatively-minded youth were gathering near the cinema, but no violations were recorded, writes UNN.
Details
Today, the Sunny Bunny event, the first Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ film festival, was supposed to take place in Kyiv. However, the organizers faced a wave of criticism, mostly due to the date chosen for it, as it fell precisely on the Easter holidays.
The event organizers explained that this was merely a coincidence and nothing more. There was no hidden meaning in these actions on their part.
Sunny Bunny is an international film festival; its dates are agreed upon in advance according to the international festival calendar, so the fact that these dates currently fall on Easter is just a coincidence
They also added that they did not aim to "hype," but the attempt to link their event with religious holidays is a manipulation by the negatively-minded anti-LGBT part of the Ukrainian community.
We respect different faiths and by no means intended to outrage society or "hype," as some are inclined to believe. However, we emphasize that Ukraine is a secular state, so appealing to Christian holidays is merely a manipulation that covers up homophobia and hatred
UNN inquired with Kyiv police whether there were any conflicts near the planned venue of the event.
Tonight, young people who were negatively disposed towards the film festival were gathering near the cinema. They were all invited to the police station to establish their identities and the purpose of their gathering. No violations were recorded