In the midst of chaotic demonstrations and under threat from anti-LGBTQ groups, an organization made up of seven queer rights activists has managed to pull off the country’s inaugural Tbilisi Pride week in Georgia. Or at least most of it.
Last week, the group hosted members of the LGBTQ community, their allies and international guests for two separate Pride events, before deciding to postpone their rally in light of ongoing political unrest. Instead, the Tbilisi Pride organizers took to the streets to join the thousands of protestors who have now been demonstrating every night since June 20.
“Deeply Ingrained Homophobia And Transphobia”
Bordering Russia, Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Georgia is located in the Caucasus region on the Black Sea. Advocacy group ILGA-Europe ranks its neighbours the lowest in the European region for achievement of LGBTQ rights, but Georgia is currently standing at twenty-fifth among the 49 countries listed. When compared to the violent purges of LGBTQ people in Russia’s Chechnya and the arrests targeting the queer community in neighboring Azerbaijan, Georgia may seem better off. But much of Georgian society remains deeply conservative and highly influenced by traditional Orthodox Christian values that reject homosexuality. In addition to facing discrimination, members of the LGBTQ community are often victims of abuse and physical violence, which is regularly encouraged by religious and far-right leaders.
According to the Georgian queer feminist NGO, Women’s Initiatives Support Group (WISG), societal attitudes towards LGBTQ persons in Georgia are “predominantly negative.” “Respondents ranking high on the right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism scales far more frequently exhibit negative attitudes towards LGBTI community members,” their 2015 study found.
Local LGBTQ organizations report that the authorities are taking “no action” to implement the 2014 law on the elimination of all forms of discrimination, which includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Incidents of hate crimes on this basis are “quite prevalent” in Georgia. What’s more, the majority of these crimes “are left unregistered and thus without due response.” A United Nations Independent Expert reported an unwillingness among victims of sexual orientation and gender identity based hate crimes to report incidents to the Georgian police, due to “a lack of trust in the authorities and fear of phobic behaviour and attitudes from police officers,” among other factors.
In light of societal attitudes, the idea of organizing a Pride week may seem counterintuitive. And according to Tbilisi Pride founder Giorgi Tabagari, the decision “was neither spontaneous nor easy to make” given the “deeply ingrained homophobia and transphobia” in Georgia. That being said, he also felt it was necessary. “I see Tbilisi Pride as an opportunity to unite people against hatred, to stand up against inequality, and to send a message to everyone that we need to start doing something about our future,” he wrote.
Tabagari also emphasized that the LGBTQ community has a successful, but clandestine, presence in Tbilisi. “The Georgian underground queer community has been thriving in the club scene and safe spaces. We have up to ten different queer friendly spaces in Tbilisi and we have events where 1,500 people attend at clubs,” he explained in an interview with Ukrainian media outlet, Hromadske International.
First announced in February, Tbilisi Pride was initially supposed to run from 18–23 June. The first official event took place on June 20, with a theatrical performance titled “Caucasian Metamorphosis” drawing over a hundred attendees. Then, on June 21, Tbilisi Pride hosted an international LGBTQ conference on “Equality in Public Space.” But as a result of political developments, the organizers were forced to postpone the main event; a Pride rally called the March of Dignity originally scheduled for June 22.
“20 Percent Of My Country Is Occupied”
On June 20, the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO) was taking place in the main chamber of Georgia’s parliament. A breach of protocol sparked mass protests after Russian lawmaker Sergey Gavrilov presided over the plenary session from the chair of Georgia’s parliamentary speaker. This was seen as a symbolic insult and 10,000 people took to the streets in anti-Russia protests, bearing signs that read “20 percent of my country is occupied by Russia”
Georgia’s relations with Russia have been tense since the two countries fought a short war in 2008 and there is widespread resentment due to the de facto occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The international community considers these breakaway regions Georgian territory – but Russia maintains troops in both.
The demonstrations continued past midnight, seeing violent clashes between protestors and the police. Some demonstrators tried to push past the police cordon in an attempt to storm the parliament, while others threw bottles at officers and tried to tear off their shields and helmets. To disperse the crowd, law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.
204 people were hospitalized for injuries sustained during the clashes, including 80 police officers. Two people lost eyes as a result of law enforcement firing rubber bullets into the crowd. 305 protestors were arrested on charges of petty hooliganism and disobeying police, and 121 of them received administrative detention, while the others were issued fines or verbal warnings.
The speaker of the Georgian parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced that he was stepping down. But the demonstrations continued. Thousands of people returned to the streets for a second night of demonstrations, this time in response to police violence. The protestors were demanding the resignation of the interior minister, Giorgi Gakharia, as well as snap elections according to a proportional representation voting system.
During the second day of protests, Tbilisi Pride organizers announced that they were joining the demonstrations and postponing the March of Dignity. Although it was misreported in the international press that the Pride march was called off due to security threats, the organizers made it clear that it was because of political developments.
Vigilante Patrols Countering “Gay Propaganda”
Arguably, Tbilisi Pride’s organizers had every reason to cancel. When Pride week was announced in February they immediately received opposition statements from far-right groups. And in 2012 and 2013 assemblies to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) on May 17 had seen thousands of opposition demonstrators attack LGBTQ activists, while the police failed to ensure participants’ safety.
This year, LGBTQ activists were again forced to abstain from holding IDAHOT demonstrations due to violent threats from far-right organizations. Instead, queer rights groups marked the IDAHOT with online activism and a single rainbow flag hung from the Baratashvili Bridge. Meanwhile, hundreds of people – including religious leaders, churchgoers and far-right groups – joined a rally organized by the Georgian Orthodox Church to mark “Family Purity Day” and protest “sodomy.”
At the end of May, the Georgian Interior Ministry announced that it was “impossible” to hold Tbilisi Pride in the city centre for safety reasons. The Tbilisi Pride organizers claimed they had come under pressure from an “unidentified government representative,” but insisted the events would go forward as planned.
After the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate demanded the government cancel Tbilisi Pride, LGBTQ activists gathered outside of the Chancellery building on June 14 for a peaceful demonstration in support of the event. They were surrounded by far-right demonstrators, who targeted them with violence and threats.
Two days later, Georgian ultra-conservative Levan Vasadze gathered supporters for a “men only” rally for “morality,” during which he announced the formation of “vigilante patrols” to counter “gay propaganda.” The Interior Ministry launched an inquiry into Vasadze’s statement and illegal plans to form vigilante groups, but threats against the Tbilisi Pride organizers continued. On June 19, queer activists Giorgi Tabagari and Tamaz Sozashvili received death threats on their mobile phones from blocked numbers. They were then forced to evacuated the Tbilisi Pride office after far-right groups announced plans to surround the building and disrupt Pride week events.
“The Queer Community Is Not A Homogeneous Movement”
The decision to go ahead with the parade in spite of numerous threats was controversial, even among the LGBTQ community. WISG sought to disassociate from Tbilisi Pride, describing its “benefits” as “unclear” and saying it “may cause significant damange and risk.” Georgian transgender rights activist Gabriela Roskipova-Romanova also announced that transgender people would not be participating in the March of Dignity because it would not help the grave safety concerns they face.
Other queer rights activists opposed Tbilisi Pride because they felt that the LGBTQ community was getting caught between liberal pro-European and far-right political forces, both of whom instrumentalize LGBTQ issues (be it queer rights or homophobia) for political ends. “The timing for Tbilisi Pride is wrong and it will only make LGBTQ people’s life harder and make Georgian society even more polarized,” wrote Griogi Ptskialadze, an executive committee member of the Georgian Young Greens.
“I find it absolutely terrific that there is such a broad range of opinions within the queer community. I rejoice in that because finally the queer community shows that it is not one monolithic, absolutely homogenous minority group,” said Maksym Eristavi, a Ukrainian journalist and Atlantic Council Fellow, who is a prominent advocate for LGBTQ rights in the region. “And since Pride is a very sensitive issue for Georgia, I would expect nothing less from the queer community [than] to have different ideas.”
WISG also warned against misinterpreting diverging opinions, which could be “exploited to fuel controntation among community members.” “The queer community is not a homogeneous movement and activists harbor diverse visions and strategies,” their statement read.
“Pride events are always controversial irrespective of where it’s taking place and we knew that there would be a lot of people – both in the community or in the general public – who would be opposing this,” Giorgi Tabagari said. “When it comes to the queer community some of them are afraid [and] it’s normal to be afraid in this type of context…But we will prove and we have already proven that we were right in our approach.”
Maksym Ersitavi agrees. “Of course the first Pride is going to be controversial even within the community, of course it should be daring, and of course it should be risky because the stakes are, especially for Georgia, extremely high,” he said.
At the time of writing, the Tbilisi Pride organizers still intend to host the March of Dignity, but have postponed it by several days to allow the political situation to settle. “Hopefully within [the] week we will try and march in the streets of Tbilisi,” Giorgi Tabagari said.