Protesters burnt a homemade 'rainbow flag’ prior to the premiere. Photo: Mari Nikuradze/OC Media.
Homophobic protesters threw firecrackers at police and filmgoers and several times attempted to storm the cinema at the Georgian premiere of Swedish-Georgian co-production And Then We Danced. [Read more…]
A promotional poster for And Then We Danced.
Several far-right and ultraconservative groups in Georgia have begun to mobilise against the Georgian premiere of queer romance film And Then We Danced, which is due to hit screens this Friday. [Read more…]
Nikolo with his grandson. Photo: Dato Parulava/OC Media.
A Georgian transgender man has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after local courts rejected his plea to have his gender changed in official documents without undergoing sex reassignment surgery. [Read more…]
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.
