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Georgian State Security Service issue warning to neo-Nazis

18 May 2018 by OC Media

Small groups neo-Nazis roamed central Tbilisi (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)

Georgia’s State Security Service has warned a neo-Nazi group to abstain from using Nazi symbols in public. Small groups of neo-Nazis marched through Tbilisi several times last week, including on 17 May, Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, giving Nazi salutes and chanting ‘death to the enemy’. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: 17 may, arrests, fascist, georgia, human rights, idahot, IDAHOTB, neo-nazi, neo-nazi groups, police, queer, queer rights, rally, tbilisi

16–18 May 2013: the days of human tragedies

18 May 2018 by Giorgi Kikonishvili

Giorgi Kikon­ishvili is a blogger and member of the Equality Movement

On 17 May 2013, Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, a small group of around 50 queer rights activists were con­front­ed in Tbilisi by thousands of counter-demon­stra­tors led by Georgian Orthodox priests. Demon­stra­tors carried posters with homo­pho­bic messages such as: ‘We don’t need Sodom and Gomorrah in Georgia’. The crowds, some carrying nettles to beat queer rights activists with, broke through police lines to attack the activists. Police were forced to evacuate the small number of activists from the city centre. Below is the story of Giorgi Kikon­ishvili, one of those present. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Voices Tagged With: dispersal, georgia, georgian orthodox church, human rights, idahot, IDAHOTB, lgbt, lgbt rights, protest, queer, queer rights, rally, tbilisi

Queer rights activists hold ‘guerrilla IDAHOTB demonstrations’ in Tbilisi after far-right threats

17 May 2018 by OC Media

Queer rights groups in front of the 112 HQ (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)

Queer rights activists held a number of small ‘guerrilla demon­stra­tions’ in Tbilisi on Thursday to mark Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia, and Biphobia. Con­ser­v­a­tive and far-right groups held their own events, vowing to create a ‘Georgia without sodomy’, with the Church organ­is­ing their own event for ‘family values’. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: family purity day, georgian orthodox church, idahot, IDAHOTB, lgbt, queer rights

Queer rights activists cancel Tbilisi 17 May demonstration after ‘threats from far-right groups’

16 May 2018 by OC Media

Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia and Biphobia marked on 17 May 2017 (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Queer rights group the Equality Movement has announced they will not mark the Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia, and Biphobia on 17 May, citing security concerns. The decision comes after far-right groups organised large homo­pho­bic rallies on 12–13 May and threat­ened violence against anyone coming out to support queer people. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: far-rights groups, georgia, homophobia, human rights, idahot, lgbt rights, protest, queer rights, tbilisi

Five data points about homophobia in Georgia five years after a homophobic riot

16 May 2018 by CRRC

Women bran­dish­ing nettles in a homo­pho­bic rally on 17 May 2013 (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Five years after a homo­pho­bic riot in Tbilisi, CRRC examines the levels of homo­pho­bia in Georgia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Opinion & Analysis Tagged With: activism, georgia, homophobia, human rights, idahot, lgbt, lgbt rights, lgbtqi, may 17, protest, queer, queer activists, queer rights

Georgian Church distance themselves from Neo-Nazi groups

15 May 2018 by OC Media

A priest attending counter-rally on Sunday (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Georgia’s Orthodox Church distanced them­selves from neo-Nazi groups, at a press con­fer­ence at the Patri­ar­chate on Monday, according to Netgazeti. Announc­ing their plans for 17 May — Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia, and Biphobia — the Church urged any ‘aggres­sive’ groups to abstain from par­tic­i­pat­ing in events, and disavowed neo-Nazi group the Nation­al­ist Socialist Movement — National Unity of Georgia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: church, decriminalisation, drug policy, drug reform, far-right, far-right groups, gakharia, georgia, georgian orthodox church, idahot, may 17, nationalist socialist movement, neo-nazi, neo-nazi groups, patriarchate, tbilisi, tsikarishvili, white noise movement

Georgian Orthodox Church to wed 400 couples on International Day Against Homophobia

10 May 2018 by OC Media

Family purity day on 17 May 2017 (/OC Media)

The Georgian Orthodox Church is to host 400 marriages on 17 May, the Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia and Trans­pho­bia (IDAHOT). The Church declared 17 May the Family Purity Day in 2014, a year after a priest-led rally attacked a small group of queer rights activists who gathered to protest dis­crim­i­na­tion. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: church, family purity, georgia, georgian orthodox church, idahot, may 17, orthodox, queer, queer rights

NGOs call on Georgia’s Human Rights Committee head to resign after queer activists’ protest

4 May 2018 by OC Media

Sopo Kiladze (parliament.ge)

A group of 31 Georgian non-gov­ern­men­tal organ­i­sa­tions are demanding the res­ig­na­tion of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee chair, Sopo Kiladze. The groups include Trans­paren­cy Inter­na­tion­al Georgia, the Human Rights Education and Mon­i­tor­ing Centre (EMC), and Open Society Georgia Foun­da­tion.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: 17may, human rights, idahot, lgbt, lgbtq, queer, sopo kiladze

Human rights committee under fire in Georgia over U-turn on queer rights

1 May 2018 by OC Media

Protest of the queer-rights group at Par­lia­ment building in Tbilisi (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Sopo Kiladze, head of the Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, is facing calls to resign after back­track­ing on a com­mit­ment to mark Inter­na­tion­al Day against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia, and Biphobia on 17 May. Members of local queer rights group the Equality Movement and other activists gathered outside the Par­lia­ment building in Tbilisi on Tuesday morning. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Stories Tagged With: georgia, human rights, idahot, may 17, parliament, protest, queer, queer rights, Sopio Kiladze, tbilisi

Opinion | To answer Georgia’s homophobia we need a more united front against hate

14 February 2018 by Natia Gvianishvili

17 May 2017, Tbilisi. (Luka Pertaia /OC Media)

Natia Gvian­ishvili is a lesbian feminist activist and researcher from Georgia rep­re­sent­ing the Women's Ini­tia­tives Sup­port­ing Group (WISG); she is one of the founders of the Inde­pen­dent Group of Feminists.

Queer rights activism has come a long way in Georgia, but faced with rising homo­pho­bia, coop­er­a­tion within the movement is crucial now more than ever. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Opinion & Analysis Tagged With: activism, georgia, homophobia, human rights, idahot, lgbt, lgbt rights, lgbtqi, may 17, protest, queer, queer activists, queer rights

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