The high-profile murder of trans media personality and model Kesaria Abramidze has led to an outpouring of grief and anger in Georgia, with many linking her murder to the ruling party’s transphobic rhetoric and legislation.

Hours after the initial news broke on Wednesday evening, the Interior Ministry confirmed 37-year-old Abramidze was killed after receiving multiple knife wounds following an altercation in her home in Didi Dighomi. 

They also confirmed that they had detained a primary suspect in the case, whom they identified as B.J., on charges of premeditated murder committed in aggravating circumstances with particular cruelty due to gender.

Local media later reported that Abramidze was murdered by her former boyfriend, 26-year-old Beka Jaiani. TV channels Pirveli and Formula shared CCTV footage, allegedly showing Jaiani entering Abramidze’s building around 19:00 and running down the stairs to exit the building 15 minutes later. 

Jaiani was reportedly detained by police in the vicinity of Kutaisi airport, located in western Georgia.

Citing unnamed neighbours of Abramidze, local media reported that Jaiani was a frequent visitor to Abramidze’s home and that Abramidze had received threats from Jaiani in the past. 

Abramidze’s murder sent shockwaves through the local queer community, which had long been emphasising the particular vulnerability of trans women to violence. 

The murder happened just a day after the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority unilaterally approved a package bill that will ban gender-affirming medical treatment and legal gender recognition, and as critics warned, would effectively outlaw advocacy for queer rights.

[Read more: Georgian parliament adopts homophobic laws] 

In their late-night statement on 18 September, the Tbilisi-based human rights group Social Justice Centre (SJC) echoed the concerns of many in the local queer community, drawing a direct connection between the tragedy and the months-long campaign filled with alarmist transphobic messages.

‘For almost a year, the Georgian Dream government has aggressively used homo/bi/transphobic language, fostering it through mass propaganda. Political homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia have become central to the government’s official discourse and ideology, most clearly demonstrated by the passage of anti-LGBTI legislation yesterday […] Kesaria Abramidze’s murder cannot be seen outside of this troubling context’, the SJC’s statement read. 

The SJC called on the Interior Ministry to examine whether the crime was committed ‘with a motive of hatred (with a transphobic motive)’. They also highlighted the responsibility of investigative bodies to examine whether the victim had faced prior violence, and if so, whether the Interior Ministry and the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia had responded appropriately.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, while not mentioning any legislation, wrote a plea for society in the aftermath of what she called a ‘horrendous murder’.

‘Maybe this serves as a wake-up call for our society… mired in hate, hate that allows the enemy to manipulate us in every possible way, weakening and dividing us’, Zourabichvili wrote on Facebook. 

‘Let the death of this beautiful young woman at least make us more human and Christian… so that this tragedy does not go in vain’.

The Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, Michael Roth, who departed Tbilisi on the same day the Georgian Parliament passed the law aimed at banning ‘LGBT propaganda’, made a more direct connection between the tragedy and government-promoted transphobia. 

In a post on X, Roth emphasised that those who spread hatred inevitably provoke violence, and called on the ruling party, which he referred to as the ‘Georgian Nightmare’, to ‘immediately revoke’ the recently passed ‘shameful’ legislation.

Those who sow hatred will reap violence.

Kesaria Abramidze was killed. Just one day after the Georgian parliament passed the anti-LGBTI law.

I am deeply shocked and call on the ruling party “Georgian Nightmare” to immediately withdraw the shameful law.

🇬🇪🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈❤️😢

— Michael Roth - official 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪 (@MiRo_SPD) September 18, 2024

In a society marked by widespread transphobia, Abramidze captivated many as a bold media personality. Abramidze unapologetically embraced her identity and openly criticised transphobic public figures, including politicians.