A petition to replace the statue of Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the Ukrainian city of Odessa with a statue of a gay porn star has amassed enough signatures that it must be considered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The petition, which was started by Ukrainian activists and posted to the President of Ukraine’s official website on May 20, garnered more than 26,000 signatures as of Wednesday. It would replace the statue of the late 18th-century ruler with a statue of American porn star Billy Herrington. The petition blasts Catherine the Great as a “controversial historical figure whose actions caused great damage to Ukrainian statehood and culture,” and demands that the statue be removed as a rebuke to Russian culture.
“Catherine II is a controversial historical figure whose actions caused great damage to Ukrainian statehood and culture,” the petition states. “The very fact of erecting this monument was a terrible mistake, and every day of its continued existence signals that Odesa is in the zone of Russian cultural influence. It’s time to change that.” The petition argues that the statue should be taken down as a renunciation of “infamous” Russian heritage and a “loud statement that Odessa is not some provincial town of the Russian Empire.” Furthermore, it states, the statue should be replaced as a “clear signal that Ukraine supports the LGBT community.”
The petition adds further that erecting the statue of the porn actor would be “fun and funny,” and says that “all students of Odesa universities will be able to drink beer with Billy Herrington after receiving their diploma.” The petition also claims that “the figure of Billy Herrington has a great cultural influence on the Internet and the appearance of such a monument will become a very popular tourist attraction.” The statue would be ripe for “memes,” the petition concludes.
The Ukrainian constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the local and national government. Article 40 of the Constitution states:
Everyone shall have the right to file individual or collective petitions, or to personally appeal to government authorities, local government, officials and officers of these authorities that are obliged to consider the petitions and provide a substantiated reply within the term established by law.
According to the Kyiv Post, a Ukrainian English-language newspaper, petitions that acquire 25,000 signatures are automatically sent to the President of Ukraine for consideration. The President must then respond to the issue raised in the petition within 10 days of it reaching his desk.
Catherine II, commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the last empress to rule over Russia and its longest-ruling female ruler, from her coronation in 1762 until her death in 1796. Under her watch, Russia expanded its territory, annexing the Novorossiya region (where Odessa is located), as well as Crimea and parts of western Ukraine. The Washington Examiner reports that the statue in Odessa was built in 1900, to commemorate her founding of the city in 1794. But she has become a controversial figure in recent years, and multiple groups have demanded the statue be removed.
Herrington appeared in a number of gay porn films in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He became the subject of internet memes in the late 2000s when edited videos of his pornographic films, called “gachimuchi,” began circulating on video-sharing websites in Japan. He was killed in a car accident in California in 2018.
The petition comes on the heels of another petition asking the country to recognize same-sex marriage in Ukraine. BBC reported Tuesday that that petition garnered some 28,000 signatures, sending the petition to Zelensky’s desk.