A petition demanding the demolition of a statue of Russian Empress Catherine the Great to be replaced with a statue honoring gay U.S. porn star Billy Herrington has acquired enough signatures to ensure that it must be considered by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
As of the publication of this report, the petition, which comes months into Russia's war in Ukraine, had 25,786 signatures. It is required by law that any petition surpassing 25,000 signatures must be considered by the president of Ukraine.
The petition gives several reasons as to why a gay U.S. porn star should take her place, mainly that it will serve as a "renunciation of the infamous Russian heritage and a loud statement that Odessa is not some provincial town of the Russian Empire. That Odessa is not a part of Russian culture but has its own culture and sense of humor." He further added that the statue will be "a clear signal that Ukraine supports the LGBT community."