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Tbilisi Pride

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A protester opens a bottle of champagne at the festival site. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media
Alt Info

In pictures | Broken statues and stolen yoga mats: Georgia’s far right stop Pride Festival

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by Mariam Nikuradze

On 8 July, several thousand far-right protesters stormed the venue of a queer pride festival set to be held on the outskirts of Tbilisi, forcing the event’s organisers to be evacuated and the event to be cancelled.  People began to gather for the protest near the Vazha Pshavela metro station around noon, four hours before the festival was set to open. It was organised by the violent far-right group, Alt Info.  Protesters blocked Vazha Pshavela Avenue, watched over by large numbers of police.

Police watch on as supporters of Alt Info set fire to and destroy the festival grounds. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.
Alt Info

Tbilisi Pride Festival cancelled after police fail to confront extremists

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by Robin Fabbro

A festival planned for Saturday afternoon as part of Tbilisi Pride week has been called off after Georgian Police failed to confront supporters of the far-right extremist group Alt Info. Despite making public statements guaranteeing the safety of the event and bringing crowd-control equipment to the site, police deployed to protect the event did not use force to stop the several thousand far-right protesters from entering the festival venue, just hours before it was due to start. Alt Info ce

Protesters burn a homemade 'rainbow flag’ prior to the premiere of queer romance film And Then We Danced. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
Georgia

Podcast | A history of homophobic violence

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by OC Media

This week, Tbilisi is celebrating Pride Week. But unlike most Prides, this one is being held behind closed doors. The fight for the right to be queer in public in Georgia is not new. We spoke to Natia Ghvianishvili, one of a handful of activists who gathered on 17 May 2013 only to be attacked by thousands of people led by priests, and to Mariam Kvaratskhelia, co-founder and co-director of Tbilisi Pride, about their activism. OC Media’s Mariam Nikuradze also discusses the

Members of Alt Info (left) and Georgia’s Public Defender, Nino Lomjaria.
Alt Info

Georgian Public Defender seeks to outlaw extremist party

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by Shota Kincha

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria is preparing a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court in an attempt to deregister the political party of the violent far-right group, Alt Info.  Lomjaria announced the move against their party, the Conservative Movement, on 5 July, the anniversary of the homophobic riots organised by Alt Info in Tbilisi.  A day before the anniversary, Tbilisi City Court judge David Mgeliashvili cleared three men who ransacked the offices of queer rights group Tbilisi Pride

Pride Fest 2022 at Mtastminda Park. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.
Alt Info

Tbilisi Pride week concludes with festival as far-right fails to disrupt event

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by Tata Shoshiashvili

Pride week in Georgia has concluded with the successful holding of a festival, despite attempts by the violent far-right group Alt-Info to disrupt it. Several thousand people attended Pride Fest on Saturday at Mtatsminda Park in Tbilisi. Alt Info, an extremist group responsible for organising last year’s homophobic riots in Tbilisi, attempted to disrupt the event. In the early hours of Saturday morning, hours before it was due to begin, Alt Info attempted to occupy the space of the festiva

Supporters of Alt Info broadcasted the moment that Zurab Makharadze was arrested.
Alt Info

Georgian police arrest right-wing extremists attempting to block Pride Fest

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by Mariam Nikuradze

Police in Georgia have made multiple arrests including of several leaders of the far-right group Alt info as they attempteded to block Saturday’s Pride festival. The arrests came some 15 hours before Pride Fest, an event organised by Tbilisi Pride, was due to begin. In the early hours of Saturday morning, members of the group as well as several Georgian Orthodox Priests attempted to occupy the space on Mount Mtasminda in Tbilisi where the festival was due to be held. Alt Info has claimed t

Mariam Kvaratskhelia and Ani Subeliani. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.
Feature Stories

Tbilisi Pride’s leading women

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by Tata Shoshiashvili

Since its inception in 2019, Tbilisi Pride has become one of the most prominent queer organisations in Georgia. Taking the helm at a time of crisis in 2021, Ana Subeliani and Mariam Kvaratskhelia are now steering the organisation through uncharted waters. ‘I have worked in queer activism for years and have always tried to help members of the community, but coming out to my mother as a lesbian was very difficult’, explains 29-year-old Mariam Kvaratskhelia, one of the directors of Tbilisi Pride.

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