Germany's first openly gay footballer Marcus Urban has lent his support to a campaign urging chancellor Angela Merkel to use the European Championship to denounce the anti-gay crackdown in Ukraine.
Joint hosting with Poland, the Eastern European country's human rights record is gaining wider exposure as a result of Euro 2012, with a vote scheduled in two weeks' time to make it illegal to say the word "gay" in Ukraine.
"We just learned that the anti-gay law is now scheduled for vote in two weeks," said Olena Shevchenko, Chair of the Ukrainian LGBT organisation.
"In a move to make it illegal for anyone in Ukraine to say the word 'gay' in public, this anti-gay law - Law 8711 - is advancing through the Ukrainian Parliament, with no public opposition from the highest level of Ukrainian authorities."
A letter from Urban, featuring the signatures of almost 20,000 All Out members reads: "Chancellor Merkel, as Ukraine's key trade partner, you should give Yanukovych a "red card" by refusing to attend this month's Euro Cup and strongly urging him to denounce the laws in his Parliament that want to make saying "gay" illegal."
"Germany is a key partner for Ukraine within the European Union and has a huge influence on the country", said Andre Banks, co-founder of AllOut.org.
"If Chancellor Angela Merkel follows the lead of French officials and also boycotts Euro 2012, it will make headlines everywhere and pressure Yanukovych to finally denounce the laws in his Parliament that want to make saying 'gay' illegal."
Around 72,000 people have already joined All Out in urging the President of Ukraine to denounce these odious laws in a full ad page published in the Kiyv Post last Friday.