The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory proposed turning the former ‘Arch of Friendship of Peoples’ in Kyiv into an LGBT symbol

Anton Drobovych, the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, has proposed transforming the former “Arch of Friendship of Peoples” (now the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People) into an LGBT symbol.

He made this statement in an interview with “Interfax-Ukraine.”

Drobovych believes that the arch can avoid demolition only by completely changing its original meaning.

“Keep the arch and turn it, as in 2017, into a rainbow symbolizing LGBT or just a symbol of a rainbow over the water,” Drobovych said.

He also suggested that instead of the arch, something else could be created, such as a “water slide” or something different.

Drobovych thinks that the cracks added to the arch in 2018 are insufficient for rethinking its significance, as “no one in personal conversations calls it the ‘Arch of Cracks of the Peoples.'”

Recently, the composition honoring the Pereiaslav Rada was dismantled under the arch.

The Ministry of Culture had proposed demolishing the arch itself, but the Kyiv City Administration opposed this. Marina Soloviova, the director of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, stated that the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People symbolizes the tolerance of Ukrainians and prevents the hill on which it is located from shifting.