I propose exempting LGBT+ people from paying taxes. Yes, you read that right.

How many LGBT+ people are there anyway? According to various estimates, 10–15% of the population. Maybe a little more. Not such a significant number, you might agree, if we ignore the fact that this amounts to almost 800 million people worldwide. And approximately 3 to 4 million in Ukraine… But who’s counting?

More than 80% of taxpayers would remain. That should be enough. The state treasury won’t go broke.

I know quite a few LGBT+ people. Some of them, like me, are registered as third-group sole proprietors. They work, earn money, pay taxes, social security contributions, various fees, and all the rest. A perfectly ordinary adult life.

And frankly, I’d be fine with them not paying.

• Can’t get married? Don’t pay taxes.
• Can’t register a civil partnership? Don’t pay taxes.
• Can’t inherit property from someone you’ve lived with for 20 years? Don’t pay taxes.
• Can’t visit your partner in intensive care without going through a bureaucratic obstacle course? Don’t pay taxes.
• Can’t tell your colleagues who’s waiting for you at home without carefully weighing every word? Don’t pay taxes either.

Why pay full price for an incomplete “package of services”?

A cunning little scheme, you might say. Yes. And I can already picture my neighbour (let’s call him Uncle Stepan), a die-hard homophobe who spends his time commenting on Facebook — you know the type — rushing to the tax office with a declaration: “I’m gay. Relieve me of the burden of taxation.”

The tax inspector looks at him. Uncle Stepan looks at the inspector.

And this is where the scheme, of course, falls apart. Because if everyone were exempt from taxes, who would fund the state budget? That simply wouldn’t work.

So the logic is straightforward: if you have the full package of rights, you pay the full price. If you don’t have the full package, it would only make sense to reduce the bill.

Outraged already? Hold off on throwing your slippers at me.

I’m not proposing a two-tier society. I’m describing the one that already exists, just from a different angle: one where rights are selective, but obligations aren’t. Where “we’re all citizens” works in one direction and somehow stops working in the other.

What I’m actually proposing isn’t a tax exemption, but a much more boring solution: equal rights and equal responsibilities.

One “citizenship package” for everyone.