section_path: Political views/Social issues
section_name: Social issues
paragraph_text: Social issues
  
  Zelenskyy opposed targeting the Russian language in Ukraine and banning artists for their political opinions (such as those viewed by the Government as anti-Ukrainian). In April 2019, he stated that he was not against a Ukrainian language quota (on radio and TV), although he noted they could be tweaked. He also said that Russian artists "who have turned into (anti-Ukrainian) politicians" should remain banned from entering Ukraine.
  
  In response to a petition demanding equal rights for same-sex couples, Zelenskyy affirmed that democracies were measured by how they ensure equal rights for all citizens, that "all people are free and equal in their dignity and rights", and that the family "consists of persons who live together, are connected by common life, have mutual rights and obligations"; he asked the Prime Minister of Ukraine to review civil partnerships for same-sex couples and called this "part of the work on establishing and ensuring human rights and freedoms". However, he said that same-sex marriage could not be introduced during wartime as this would require amending the Constitution of Ukraine, which defines marriage as "based on the free consent of a woman and a man", and the Constitution cannot be changed during martial law. Civil rights organizations such as Kyiv Pride praised the statement, though Holos MP Inna Sovsun criticised the lack of details about legal proposals for civil partnerships.
  
  On 2 December 2022, Zelenskyy said his administration would enter a bill in the Verkhovna Rada that would ban "religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation", referring to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) (UOC-MP), from operating in Ukraine. The bill was passed by parliament and signed by Zelenskyy in August 2024, after opposition parties protested the bill's delay. The law treats each parish individually and gives it nine months to cut ties with the UOC-MP, following which a special commission will inspect individual parishes and file lawsuits against non-compliant ones; the court can then decide on a ban in each case.