First ever Tbilisi Pride is coming
Georgian church urge cancellation of event
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LGBT Pride Week is set to be held between June 18-23 in Tbilisi to raise the awareness about sexual minorities.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia stated at the end of May that they will be unable to protect the participants of the events if they are to hold activities on the crowded Rustaveli Avenue or on Freedom Square in central Tbilisi, as per the organisers’ programme.
The ministry had offered the events to be held either in a club or in a stadium,” the pride organizers said, adding that the offer was unacceptable for them.
The Georgian Patriarchate has urged the government earlier today not to allow the event to take place, “as it is known beforehand that the event will lead to unrest.”
The church says that sexual monitories in Georgia are trying to display themselves as victims and attract international donations.
In reality the sexual minorities are trying to popularise their lifestyle and make the government legalise the sin,” the church says.
The patriarchate has urged the diplomatic corps, international organisations and the public defender to be more cautious to the “very sensitive issue” for the majority of Georgians and not to encourage such events, which may cause confrontations and unrest.
Georgian clerics have urged foreign diplomats to be more cautious to LGBT issues in Georgia. Photo: droni.ge.
The pride event organisers say that they have plans to carry out social campaigns during the week and advocate for policy changes.
We strive for civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people; we are making political, legal and social changes in Georgia,” they say.
An international conference, a performance and a pride march are scheduled for the pride week.
Transgender women have declined to participate in the Pride march, saying that their lives might in danger.
Since May 17, 2013, when crowds in central Tbilisi streets harshly opposed LGBT supporters on the Day Against Homophobia, no large-scale event of sexual minorities has been held in the country.
The police have arrested one man for a hate crime related to the sexual orientation of two individuals.
According to CoE Georgia has been rated by ILGA-Europe as the 33rd out of 49 European countries in terms of rights protection accorded to LGBTI persons.
Despite the guarantees the Ministry of Internal Affairs has given to the organisers of the rally for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Equality Movement has decided to cancel its rally today.
LGBT rights activists, Orthodox clergy and conservative Christian activists supporting "purity of family” were all represented in Tbilisi streets on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17.
LGBT activists left the territory of the Administrative building of the Government of Georgia on mini buses provided by the Interior Ministry after the six-hour peaceful demonstration on Friday. The activists demanded protection of their rights during the Tbilisi Pride, which is set to be held in Tbilisi between June 18-23 to raise the awareness about sexual minorities.
28 people were detained for resisting police officers and other petty hooliganism during last night’s demonstration against Tbilisi Pride in front of the Administrative building of the Government of Georgia. The Georgian Interior Ministry reported today that the detainees tried to break the police corton and threw eggs at the peaceful demonstrators supporting LGBT rights.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has launched an investigation regarding a threat made by businessman Levan Vasadze last week to create self-organised groups in Tbilisi to prevent the holding of LGBT events during upcoming Tbilisi Pride – a week-long event to raise public awareness about the rights of sexual minorities in the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that human rights in Georgia, including those of sexual minorities, are protected and the issue has been “artificially exacerbated.”
Businessman Levan Vasadze, who had earlier called for anti-LGBT activists to form ‘patrols’ to prevent events for Tbilisi Pride, says no such groups will be formed for now. The decision came after the statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs earlier yesterday.
A leader of an anti-LGBT rally held in front of the Georgian parliament, Guram Palavandishvili, has been detained for insulting a police officer, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports.
The March of Dignity will be the final event of Tbilisi Pride Week and will be held tomorrow. Organisers of the event called on supporters through their social media channels to join the march, which was postponed amid the protest rallies in Tbilisi.
Tbilisi Pride, which was scheduled to take place earlier today, has been cancelled “due to increased threats”, as clerics, nationalist groups and their supporters have gathered at different locations in Tbilisi to prevent the march from taking place.