A man calling himself Sarah Ashton-Cirillo has up until now served as a field medic in the Ukrainian army and earlier was a reporter on the war in Ukraine for the portal “LGBTQ communities.” But now the transsexual has been appointed as foreign language spokesperson for Ukraine’s territorial army.
According to available data, the individual has been married and has a child. However, a few years ago he underwent hormonal treatment and a medical procedure for a sex change. He arrived in Ukraine in March 2022 to report on the war for an LGBTQ portal in San Francisco and conduct interviews with Ukrainian gays who had engaged in the military. In the autumn of that year, he began work as a field medic in the Ukrainian army. The individual now has the military rank of sergeant and was wounded in February 2023.
Russian media has ridiculed the fact that an American transsexual who does not speak Ukrainian at all well was appointed spokesperson for Ukraine’s territorial army.
Ashton-Cirillo has been defended by Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malar. She said that since March 2022, Ashton-Cirillo has fought for Ukraine but that the most important thing is that “Sarah informs English language speakers objectively on the war and exposes Russian falsehoods and propaganda.” The minister commended the fact that Ashton-Cirillo’s tweets were reaching 28.3 million users.
The move to appoint Ashton-Cirillo has been criticized by the Ukrainian nationalist Right Sector. But Ukrainian media claim that around 50,000 gays are engaged in the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Alexey Makeyev, participated in Berlin’s Equality Parade in July. At the event, Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner slammed Poland, claiming gays were not safe there.
The Ukrainian parliament is currently considering legislation legalizing same-sex unions. Some Ukrainian parliamentarians have argued that Ukraine should legalize such unions to show that the country is different from Russia.
Back in 2016, the legalization of same-sex unions was proposed in a national human rights strategy. However, following protests from local government and other sources, the pledge actually disappeared from the national strategy for 2121-2023.
Ukraine has legalized surrogacy. Ukrainian women have been giving birth to children for foreigners, including same-sex couples.
