Members of Tbilisi Pride (Salome Chaduneli /On.ge)
Queer activists held an impromptu queer pride march in Tbilisi amidst threats from homophobic groups. That same day, ultra-conservative protesters faced off with anti-Putin protesters at the Georgian parliament after failing to thwart Tbilisi Pride.
Protest of queer rights activists on 14 June 2019 at the government office. (Mari Nikuradze / OC Media)
Georgia’s Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has said that the queer rights are not a ‘problematic issue’ in Georgia, despite a homophobic mob surrounding and attempting to attack a small gathering of queer rights activists last week. [Read more…]
(Illustration: Dato Parulava; photo: Dina Oganova)
Giorgi Tabagari is a queer activist from Tbilisi and one of the organisers of Tbilisi Pride. He has worked for a number of local and international organisations across Europe, primarily focusing on the media, queer human rights, and EU affairs.
The worsening rights situation has forced many queer Georgians to leave the country. Georgian politicians and civil society need to make a choice, do they want a western, or a Russian-style democracy. [Read more…]
Georgia’s Interior Ministry has announced that it is ‘impossible’ for Tbilisi Pride to go ahead in the planned locations in the city centre ‘due to safety risks’. [Read more…]
Tbilisi City Court (/court.ge)
A Georgian politician who used a homophobic slur against a queer rights activist on TV has been issued a symbolic fine of ₾1 ($0.37) by Tbilisi City Court. While the ruling set a precedent as the first time a fine has been issued on these grounds, the plaintiff, Levan Berianidze, said the ruling could give the green light for others to express homophobic hate.
Queer rights groups on 17 May 2018 (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)
A new survey from CRRC-Georgia suggests there is a gap between the perception and reality of intolerance in Georgia. [Read more…]
Khabib Nurmagomedov, Egor Kreed, and Timati (aif.ru)
The cancellation of a concert by rapper Egor Kreed in Daghestan over online backlash and threats has led to heated debates in local social media. A spat between Kreed and fellow rapper Timati, and Daghestani MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov has put freedom of expression and religion in Daghestan into the spotlight.
Guram Kashia against the backdrop of anti-queer protesters (Background photo: Giorgi Gogua /Liberali. Front photo: Reuters)
Dato Parulava is a staff writer at OC Media and Liberali.
In the face of abuse and threats over wearing a rainbow armband at a match, Georgia’s football captain, Guram Kashia, has received an unprecedented outpouring of support. Regardless of how much this support means for the queer community, we need to ask whether it is really for them, given that Kashia’s most prominent supporters have avoided mentioning queer people entirely. [Read more…]
(/UEFA)
UEFA has granted the captain of Georgia’s national football team, Guram Kashia, its inaugural #EqualGame award for his ‘courageous public stand for equality’. Last year, Kashia wore a rainbow armband during a game for Dutch team SBV Vitesse, and despite facing heavy backlash in Georgia, made further statements in support of equality.
The authorities’ failure to confront homophobia in Georgian society has perpetuated hate, violence, and emboldened the far right. If the government is truly serious about democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, they must dare to pursue policies based on equality, no matter the political cost.
