The original reports contain more pics and videos, not reproduced here

Gay rights groups in Georgia called off a planned rally on May 17 after threats of violence, but individual activists still came out to rally. (Photo: George Gogua)

Gay rights groups in Georgia called off a planned rally on May 17 after threats of violence and continued tensions following riots in Tbilisi over the weekend, effectively ceding the city to religious conservatives and small neo-Nazi groups. But individual activists, defying the LGBT groups’ decision, still came out to rally.

May 17 is International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT), and Georgia’s embattled gay community and activists often try to hold various public events on the occasion. This year several advocacy groups and activists announced that they were planning to gather in front of the prime minister’s office to “remind the community of the destructive consequences of hate.”

But after watching police barely contain far-right mobs from attacking liberal protesters a few days earlier, LGBT rights activists said the city’s downtown would not be a safe place to demonstrate. “We decided to concede our constitutional right of the freedom of expression this time […] not to let these forces create tension,” LGBT rights activist Giorgi Kikonishvili said on a Facebook live broadcast on the eve of the rally.

Over the weekend, club-goers and liberal protesters took to Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue after police carried out violent raids against two popular nightclubs, ostensibly to crack down on drug dealing. They were met by far-right counter protesters, and violence was barely averted.

The near-riots marked an escalation in the country’s deepening culture war, where Georgia’s increasingly vibrant, liberated and internationally famed nightlife – and its liberal attitudes towards drugs and sexuality – is a frontline.

The weekend’s turmoil set the stage for a tense sequel, as Georgian conservatives planned to come out again for counter protests against the IDAHOT events. Priests and their parishioners, ethno-nationalists and even white supremacists had all been planning to head downtown to rally, divided in their tactics but united in their disapproval of Georgia’s small gay-rights movement.

Heavy police forces, too, were to be deployed to act as a human shield against potential clashes as they were over the weekend. But IDAHOT organizers said they didn’t feel that was enough.

“On the formal level, the Interior Ministry gave us safety guarantees, but in the light of recent events and based on our past experience we did not trust them,” Kikonishvili told Eurasianet.

Small groups of LGBT activists did hold hit-and-run rallies in front of various government buildings, protesting the government’s inability to protect them. In the late evening, several dozens protesters, defying the cancellation of the main rally, gathered in front of the prime minister’s office, holding posters reading “No to Homophobia!” and “No Fascism!”

Police blocked off the access to the area with metal shields to avoid attacks. “We are citizens of this country and we are members of this family,” said activist Nino Bolkvadze. “We are not going anywhere.”

But after the LGBT activists took a step back, so did an ultranationalist movement, Georgian March, which had planned a rival demonstration; leader Sandro Bregadze said Georgian March was going to join events organized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Critics charged that the absence of the LGBT activists in Tbilisi’s streets on Wednesday and the earlier tensions spoke to the Georgian authorities’ failure to ensure freedom of expression to all parts of society. “[T]he authorities have a duty to take actions, and strengthen security to protect a threatened group of people,” Giorgi Gogia, South Caucasus director for Human Rights Watch, told Eurasianet.Police did detain four members of openly neo-Nazi groups, who were seen giving Nazi salutes in central Tbilisi today.

That left the Georgian Orthodox Church to carry the day. Church officials notoriously attacked LGBT protesters during Tbilisi’s IDAHOT commemorations in 2013. Since then, the Church has been marking May 17 as the “Day of Sanctity and Integrity of the Family” in an apparent attempt to drown out the voices of the LGBT community and to show who is the bigger force in the devoutly Christian country.

This May 17, Georgian clergy marched through Tbilisi’s downtown in a liturgical procession. The church also organized mass weddings – between men and women, naturally – across the country. As many as 500 couples got married, 50 of them in the main Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Tbilisi, the church said.

Top clerics took the occasion to castigate both the LGBT groups and drug-liberalization activists.

“The war against family and its values is a war against God,” said Archbishop Shio, the locum tenens of the aging pontiff of the Georgian Church, Patriarch Ilia II, in a morning sermon. He called for treating drug addicts but preached against the idea of drug liberalization. “Narcotics are a great sin, poison and evil […] we need to fight against them,” he said.

 

On the same subject, a comprehensive report by OC Media

The original reports contain more pics and videos, not reproduced here

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’.

A major queer rights rally which was originally planned for 17 May was cancelled the day before, with activists citing security concerns due to ‘an unprecedented mobilisation of hostile groups’, who they believed were getting ready for ‘unrest and civil confrontation’.

[Read more on OC Media: Queer rights activists cancel Tbilisi 17 May demonstration after ‘threats from far-right groups’]

Instead, queer rights groups organised several unannounced demonstrations in front of various government buildings, reading out their demands to the corresponding branches of government and lighting flares in the rainbow colours.

Activists demanded the authorities prevent hate crime and publicly condemn homophobia and transphobia, to make it easier for transgender people to choose the sex marker in their identity documents and make sex reassignment surgery available to them, protect intersex people from dangerous medical procedures, and to stop homophobic bullying in schools.

(Dato Parulava/OC Media)

The final rally was held in front of the Government Chancellery under heavy police presence, with all roads leading to the venue closed by police and only selected people allowed to cross the cordons. It was attended by approximately 100 people, including queer and civil rights activists and opposition politicians.

Despite the security measures, one speaker at the rally was physically assaulted, with his attacker immediately detained by police. His attacker, who according to Liberali was under the age of 18, will still be prosecuted under the criminal code.

 

Conservative and far-right rallies

As the final rally unfolded, small groups of people including priests gathered in front of the police lines protesting against ‘LGBT propaganda’.

Several rallies were held by conservative and far-right groups throughout the day under the pretext of marking the Day of Family Purity — an observance established by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 2014, a year after priests led thousands of violent demonstrators to attack up to 50 peaceful queer rights activists on 17 May.

Neo-Nazi group the Nationalist Socialist Movement — National Unity of Georgia and their supporters marched through central Tbilisi in the morning giving Nazi salutes and chanting ‘glory to Georgia, glory to heroes’, following which the group lit candles in Kashueti Church.

Neo-Nazis marching down Rustaveli Avenue chanting ‘glory to Georgia, glory to the heroes’ (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)

The Georgian Orthodox Church distanced itself from neo-Nazi groups earlier in the week after they appeared to endorse a violent counter-protest on 12–13 May against a protest against nightclub raids.

[Read more about the nightclub raids and protests on OC Media: Interior minister apologises over Tbilisi nightclub raids as far-right groups plan daily protests]

A large rally organised by the Georgian Orthodox Church to mark the Day of Family Purity passed through central Tbilisi at around noon carrying icons and posters with slogans against drugs and promoting heterosexual families. The rally also included a large number of children.

The numbers attending this year’s rally were less than in previous years.

As the rally was underway, a mass wedding was held in Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral. The Patriarchate’s Chokhosnebi, a conservative group famous for wearing the traditional Georgian male dress the chokha and advocating ‘Georgian traditions’ and ‘family values’, who organised the event, previously announced that 400 couples would be married on that day in churches throughout the country.

Another gathering was held in the afternoon by the far-right March of Georgians group. Speakers demanded a halt to ‘drug and LGBT propaganda’ and threatened to use violence if ‘provoked’ by queer rights activists, chanting ‘Georgia without sodomy’. Several members of the group were detained during the day and the group’s leader and former deputy minister in Georgian Dream’s government, Sandro Bregadze, demanded their release before the rally would disperse.

‘Family Purity Day’

In 2013, 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, broke through police lines to attack the activists. Police were forced to evacuate the small number of activists from the city centre to avoid further violence.

Last year, the Church held a counter-rally from Tbilisi’s central Rustaveli Avenue to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in support of ‘family values’. The rally was attended by several thousand people.

International Day Against Homophobia is observed annually in more than 120 countries on 17 May. The date was chosen to commemorate the World Health Organisation’s decision in 1990 to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases.

Homophobic violence in Georgia

In 2017, the Prosecutor’s Office examined 86 alleged hate crimes, 12 of which were based on sexual orientation and 37 on gender identity.

The Public Defender’s 2018 report said violence against queer people, whether in the family or in public spaces, is a serious problem, and that the government has been unable to respond to this challenge.

The report said the Public Defender received numerous complaints regarding homophobic attitudes from law enforcement officials.

‘In some cases, complainants withdrew cases and refused to cooperate with the general inspection or the Prosecutor’s Office because they didn’t believe an investigation into their cases would be timely’, the report reads.

The report said transgender women in particular often appeal to the Public Defender’s Office about violence they face.

‘Unfortunately, law enforcement officials don’t have an efficient strategy against hate-motivated violence. They react to individual cases and don’t take action against the systematic problem’, the report reads.

Anti-LGBT sentiment was also supported this year by outside forces. Russian and Western Christians gathered in Tbilisi for the World Congress of Families. The event was held in Tbilisi specifically to support the Georgian Orthodox Church’s ‘Day of Families’, which was launched in 2013 to counter pro-equality IDAHOT celebrations on May 17.

But despite the threat of violent persecution activists attempted once again to hold a small action to mark the day. Campaigners from a number of groups held an unannounced ‘flash’ event to mark the day and to remind the world that the LGBT community continues to exist, despite their persecution. These demonstrations included the placing of a symbolic rainbow stool outside the meeting place of the World Congress of Families, which was later removed by police.

A number of activists also used the day to protest the WCF’s support of the Georgian Orthodox Church with signs, slogans and chants. These protests unfortunately led to 10 arrests of campaigners, who were charged with vandalism and/or trespassing.

At the break of dawn, 10 LGBTI rights activists were arrested by police for protesting in the former Soviet state of Georgia this morning (17 May).

Today is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, the day when people across the globe fight against bigotry towards the LGBTI community.

Police detained the activists who were painting graffiti on the fence of the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch’s office.

The paint read: ‘All love is equal’.

Police said the activists could face charges ranging from vandalism to disobeying police orders, according to the AP.

This year, Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, is holding the World Congress of Families. Held on the Sunday closest to IDAHOT, numerous homophobic conservative politicians and speakers descended to speak against same-sex marriage, compare homosexuality to the devil, and pronounce the use of dangerous ‘gay cure’ therapies.

The Georgian Orthodox Church has also spoken against same-sex marriage.

In 2013, on IDAHOT, thousands of so-called Christians attacked and assaulted a gathering of LGBTI rights. Several people were injured, with the police forced to intervene.

TBILISI, DFWatch–When groups in Tbilisi wanted to mark the international day against homophobia May 17, they had to organize it in tightly-controlled secrecy and gather in silence.

Time and location was secret, and everyone who showed up, including journalists, had to register beforehand and go through a vetting process, where journalists for media that have espoused homophobic views were excluded.

A few dozen people gathered in Round Garden, in Tbilisi’s Vake district, at 11am. The garden has four entrances which each leads to a street, and is therefore suitable for quick evacuation. The mostly young people there were surrounded by hundreds of police, who arrived in yellow municipal buses.

The gathering progressed peacefully in near silence; without the shouting of slogans and whistling and noise often used in political demonstrations here, underlining the sensitivity of the subject matter.

Several tens of anti-gay activists demonstrated peacefully some distance away from Round Garden, without being aware of the presence of gay rights campaigners nearby.

The main message at this year’s International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in Tbilisi was a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which a few days ago sentenced the government of Georgia to pay more than 33,000 euros to thirteen people for damages after being attacked during a May 17 event in 2012.

“…the duty of the State authorities to ensure freedom of assembly and speech, as well as the physical security of all persons who take part in legal demonstrations which are held simultaneously.”

“LGBT community feels being in risky situation,” another poster read.

The gathering went on in near silence, without any shouting or use of whistles.

Irakli Vacharadze, leader of the rights group Identoba, said today’s gathering was dedicated to the ruling of the Strasbourg court, which decided that ‘democracy means people respecting each other.’

That’s why participants brought quotes from the court ruling, he explained.

Other participants said that it is not enough to have a legislation which protects minorities. The laws have to be properly enforced.

Some think today’s gathering was proof that it is possible to express one’s opinion without being attacked, but others think it is comical when people have to use such a degree of secrecy in order to make a statement.

The Women’s Initiative Supporting Group (WISG) claimed #ThisStreetIsTaken

Women’s Initiative Supporting Group

On May 10, 2015 Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group started a campaign “this street is taken – there is no place for homophobia and transphobia here.” Photos were taken outdoors, in different neighborhoods of Tbilisi, by separate groups of people and posted on social media. By taking part in this social campaign, the participants exercised their right to assembly and expression and expressed their support to LGBT community, which is often unlawfully deprived of this right in a homophobic society.

The demonstration that WISG decided to hold on May 17, on Vachnadze street, was a logical continuation of our social campaign and also had a symbolic meaning. Vachnadze Street was the place where most of the LBT activists and their allies were brutally attacked in 2013. Due to security reasons WISG had to take additional precautionary measures and limit the duration of the demonstration to 15 minutes, as well as number of participants to a maximum of 20 persons.

With this symbolic demonstration we wanted to emphasize once more, that everyone should be able to enjoy their constitutional freedom of assembly and expression and all the activists that joined that symbolic demonstration stood there for everyone who couldn’t join but also for all those who experienced violence on that same street in 2013.

Source WISG website.

From the call for participation

The main reasons driving counter-demonstrators to attack the peaceful events, are directly connected to the struggle for appearance in public space, human rights of LGBT people, highlighting the problem of homophobia and transphobia in our country, as well as increasing visibility of LGBT community. The aggression and brutality expressed during the attack on May 17th, 2013 was accompanied by threats and statements against the group and its supporters. The same forces advised us to give up our constitutional rights and confine ourselves to a closed space, in order to avoid any further violence.

If you don’t want to support statements motivated by hatred, with your inaction; if you believe that all the groups should be able to enjoy their constitutional rights; if you want public space to belong to you as well as others – look around you! Public space is not limited to the central street of the city. Do you see that one street is occupied? Occupy another one. Know wherever you are there is no place for hatred, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia.

Take a picture on your street, on a street parallel to yours, in a square, in a part, in a neighbourhood where you spent your childhood, in a neighbourhood where you’re visiting your friend … choose your space, take a picture and join us, stop homophobia and transphobia!

Join our campaign: “This street is taken – there’s no place for homophobia and transphobia here!”
Share the photo you have taken with hashtags: #THISSTREETISTAKEN #IDAHOT #WISG

- The Women’s Initiative Support Group

LGBT Georgia

LGBT Georgia being the first to celebrate the very first IDAHOT in Georgia, initiated online campaign “May 17 IS the day Against Homophobia”.

“As we know, in recent years, various social groups try to scatter importance of May 17 by announcing number of celebrations on this day. Thus, LGBT Georgia tries to deliver the message – real meaning of May 17 – to people, via simple and effective ways, including painting of the major stairs of the city, zebra crossings and floating of rainbow balloons in the River Mtkvari.”

Campaign photos have been posted on the Official Facebook page of the Organization, with the hashtag #17MayTbilisi2015. 

The long walk to freedom starts with a “Stand-in” of empty shoes.

Interview with activists from Tbilissi, Georgia on the  International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2014

-       Where/how did the idea originate ?

For IDAHOT 2013, LGBT activists tried to hold a public rally, which was labeled by opponents as a ‘Gay pride’ and attracted a huge counter reaction, led by religious leaders. The activists who had gathered barely escaped a terrifying violent mob. This created a big trauma.

In 2014, although some isolated activists wanted to take public action again, a consensus was finally reached that there should be no action where people could be identified, or exposed to public violence. So we had to think about what we could do while still being invisible.

So how do you make visible that you are invisible ???! We brainstormed a lot and came to the idea to put the shoes in the place where the IDAHO rally was crashed last year on 17^th of May. We felt that this would convey two messages at the same time: that LGBT community could not hold a rally this year, and that despite this, the LGBT community is present and its existence will always manifest itself in one way or the other. We thought that shoes indeed were a good symbol: they clearly represent people, and suggest that these people stand, hold their ground, but also are on the move. [The idea of shoes was partially inspired by the holocaust memorial in Budapest, where the shoes stand on the side of Danube honoring the Jews thrown into Danube in 1944-45].

So we decided to ‘occupy’ a popular square in the capital city with an arts installation of roughly 100 pairs of shoes, and pinning all around the premises a text that would explicit this display.

 –       What were the main expectations in terms of outcomes (media attention, public attendance, academic interest,…) ?

We mainly wanted to attract sympathy from the public, by showing that while we (the LGBT people) exist, the menace that people think we constitute, does not. So by displaying this very peaceful and silent protest, we wanted to balance out other more confrontational protest actions.

The notion of ‘invisible’ was also conceived as a way to connect our cause to the lived experiences and the frustrations of many other marginalized groups in Georgian society, among them also some of those that were demonstrating against us: I actually attended the anti-LGBT demonstrations myself, to listen to what people had to say, and it stroke me that many of the participants of counter-demonstration weren’t so much opposing us, but rather they used these demonstrations as a platform to get their own claims heard. Unemployment, poverty, lack of respect, etc. : these were the subjects of discussions, beneath the very thin varnish of anti-gay slogans. People were angry and frustrated that their concerns were not being addressed by those in power, that they were invisible themselves. So by focusing our discourse on invisibility, we wanted to underline that invisibility is not only a challenge for LGBT community but for many other groups in Georgian society, with whom public space is not shared, who’s voices and problems are neglected.

Of course, we also wanted the action to be visual enough to appeal to the media. It indeed attracted immediate coverage by the main online news channels.

- What were the risks/threats involved and how did you mitigate them (counter demonstrations, police harassment, media indifference, etc.) ?

Obviously, the greater risk was the security of the people. Any action in a public space could potentially have grow violent at this point in Tbilisi, as even if the LGBT community didn’t organize any public action, counter-mobilization still took place on 17^th of May. Thus we did not inform the media, or the city authorities in advance, and tried to stay very discrete about the plan.

- How did you get it done ? How much time did it take ? how much did it cost ? how many people did it involved ?

We spent about two weeks collecting shoes from family and friends and bought some second hand. On the 18^th, very early in the morning we drove to the square we had chosen and did the installation rapidly. Police officers on duty immediately showed up but we had a good contact with them and they actually constituted more of an informal protection than a problem, which was nice to experience. If the police had been very hostile, I guess they could have blocked us but the risk was not very high, as we were not doing anything illegal: an arts installation doesn’t require any particular permit, as long as it is not blocking traffic.

The logistics itself cost nothing. A handful of people, or even one dedicated individual, could get this off the ground.

- How did you analyse the impact of this action?

The fact that at least something happened to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and that we did not fully give in to our opponents, was hugely appreciated by the LGBT community. It created a sense of pride and empowerment.

Also, the media which covered the event did a series of interviews with passersby, revealing surprising statements of support, which we might use in future for further campaigning initiatives.

Besides, some people who had learnt about the action through the media, came to the site of the installation and put their own shoes next to the ones standing there, showing support, though we never made a call for This indicates that it caught people’s imagination so we might do this action again next year, in a more collective way, engaging the public for support.

-       what would you have done differently ? what advise would you give to other people who’d like to undertake this activity ?

My piece of advise to others would be that any action has to be carefully crafted in collaboration with all major existing LGBT groups, as they are the ones who have a longer term strategy into which this kind of action can fit, or not. These discussions can take time. Be prepared to handle that.

Also, these actions are a very good hook for media education. You should be prepared to use them strategically to further their understanding of the cause.

For more information, you can contact us at

pataraazazelo@gmail.com

Displayed text :

Protest of the Invisible

This is an installation for the invisible. Those who are unseen, those who are not heard, whose existence is not recognized. This installation is for all of us who encounter daily, but don’t see and listen to each other. 

For those who cannot leave home and for those who have no home to shelter,

For those  who were forcefully displaced several times by: 

the military,  the government,

the banks, 

their own families, 

For those whose work remains unappreciated, 

For those  on hunger strike demanding to be heard, 

For those for whom we do not have enough public space,

For those  we cannot protect from insult, 

For the victims of violence and blackmail that have never been investigated, 

For those that have to pray in silence, 

For those who have to hide their names. 

Today, these empty shoes stand instead of the persons, who had the courage to stand against the invisibility of one of the groups, the LGBTQ community one year ago on May 17th –  who attempted to unmask how merciless we are, and discuss our common challenges, but who’s gathering was violently dissolved. Those who wish to stand here today to share their woes and joys, but neither the state, nor the society respect their voice and their existence.

This is a protest for the invisible and against invisibility. Despite the fact that we still do not manage to acknowledge and appreciate each other, we all exist, with our dreams, thoughts, with our daily lives. Turning a blind eye and covering up ears will not won’t erase our existence, will not heal our wounds, will not disable us to on  May 18.

Called a “Protest on Behalf of the Invisible & Against Invisibility”, the act symbolised both the silence and the resilience of LGBTI and human rights defenders who were unable to demonstrate this year on May 17 itself.

Read the interview with organisers, which provides a full overview of the action!

Some activists also painted rainbows around the city in the early hours of May 18, 2014.

Last year, on May 17, 2013, the Square was the set of brutal scenes of violence, as some 40,000 people, mobilised by the leaders of the Georgian Orthodox Church, descended on and many attacked a group of less than a hundred LGBTI and human rights activists who had assembled for a peaceful and silent demonstration to mark the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2013. Shocking scenes showed priests leading the attacks. Amnesty International received reports of an attempted lynching among the crowds. Millions of people heard about these events as international media quickly responded with hundreds of major press and television reports.

IDAHOT 2013: Priests leading the attacks against LGBTI activists in Tbilisi, Georgia.

On May 17 this year, LGBTI activists decided to cancel even private events for the Day. On May 12, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church had urged thousands to take to the streets on May 17, in a show of “Strength of Family and Respect for Parents”. 4,000 participated in this “counter” protest, which passed without LGBTI communities being attacked – as they stayed clear of the event. That said, reports did surface of demonstrators attacking one another, after appearing to mistake each other for being gay. Members of a TV crew were also attacked on the Day, reports Identoba and Tabula TV Crew.

In the lead up to May 17, 2014, Georgian activists reported that LGBTI communities had become targets of threats and intimidation, including by the Georgian police. They also advised that, despite petitions by LGBTI activists, authorities offered no guarantees as to the safety of those who wished to publicly assemble and express themselves in favour of LGBTI rights on May 17.

IDAHO 2012: A demonstrator being dragged away by Georgian police.

Moreover, local activists from Identoba group report (May 17, 2014) that pro-Russian groups had been organising to stage a “fake gay pride” this May 17, using certain front groups, with the intention of justifying and sparking confrontation on the Day. As they point out, this has also been the case in recent months in Kiev, Ukraine, as well as in certain other countries.

Freedom Square metro station, Tbilisi, May 18, 2014. Source: © Onnik Krikorian Photography

Further information

• Identoba: Statement before May 17, 2014
• Meghan Johnson: Recap of May 17, 2014 in Georgia

Called a “Protest on Behalf of the Invisible & Against Invisibility”, the act symbolises both the silence and the resilience of LGBTI and human rights defenders who were unable to demonstrate this year on May 17 itself. Some activists also painted rainbows around the city in the early hours of May 18, 2014.

Last year, on May 17, 2013, the Square was the set of brutal scenes of violence, as some 40,000 people, mobilised by the leaders of the Georgian Orthodox Church, descended on and many attacked a group of less than a hundred LGBTI and human rights activists who had assembled for a peaceful and silent demonstration to mark the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia 2013. Shocking scenes showed priests leading the attacks. Amnesty International received reports of an attempted lynching among the crowds. Millions of people heard about these events as international media quickly responded with hundreds of major press and television reports.

IDAHOT 2013: Priests leading the attacks against LGBTI activists in Tbilisi, Georgia.

On May 17 this year, LGBTI activists decided to cancel even private events for the Day. On May 12, leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church had urged thousands to take to the streets on May 17, in a show of “Strength of Family and Respect for Parents”. 4,000 participated in this “counter” protest, which passed without LGBTI communities being attacked – as they stayed clear of the event. That said, reports did surface of demonstrators attacking one another, after appearing to mistake each other for being gay. Members of a TV crew were also attacked on the Day, reports Identoba and Tabula TV Crew.

In the lead up to May 17, 2014, Georgian activists reported that LGBTI communities had become targets of threats and intimidation, including by the Georgian police. They also advised that, despite petitions by LGBTI activists, authorities offered no guarantees as to the safety of those who wished to publicly assemble and express themselves in favour of LGBTI rights on May 17.

IDAHO 2012: A demonstrator being dragged away by Georgian police.

Moreover, local activists from Identoba group report (May 17, 2014) that pro-Russian groups had been organising to stage a “fake gay pride” this May 17, using certain front groups, with the intention of justifying and sparking confrontation on the Day. As they point out, this has also been the case in recent months in Kiev, Ukraine, as well as in certain other countries.

Sunday’s In/Visible IDAHOT Protest

Organisers’ statement follows:

“This is an installation for the invisible, those who are unseen, those who are not heard, whose existence is not recognised. This is installation is for us, those who view but don’t see and listen to each other.

This is for those who can’t leave homes and those who have no home to go to.

This is for those who were chased after, persecuted and removed, by:

The military,

The banks,

Their own families,

Those whose work remains unappreciated,

Those on hunger strike demanding to be heard,

Those for whom there’s not enough public space allocated,

Those we couldn’t protect from attacks,

The victims of crimes and blackmail that we never investigated,

Those that have to prey in silence,

Those who must hide their names.

Today, these empty shoes stand instead of those humans, who dared, 1 year ago, to stand up against the invisibility of one social group, LGBTQ community, those who tried to unmask how merciless we are, those to attempted to discuss our common challenges. Those who wish to be here to express their woes and joys, but neither the state, nor the society respect their voice and their existence.

This is a protest for the invisible and against invisibility. Despite that fact that we couldn’t yet manage to recognise and appreciate each other, we still exist, with our desires to speak, with your everydayness. Turning blind eye and covering up ears won’t erase our existence, won’t smooth over our wounds, won’t take away our ability to feel empathy and love.

Passersby are free to take a shoe of their choice after 6PM, May 18th.

Freedom Square metro station, Tbilisi, May 18, 2014. Source: © Onnik Krikorian Photography

For more info:

• Identoba: Statement before May 17, 2014
• Meghan Johnson: Recap of May 17, 2014 in Georgia

International human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the IDAHO Committee, have spoken out about the violence which characterised last year’s march. A number of legal appeals, including a case with the European Court of Human Rights, have been launched by activists linked to the LGBT rights groupIdentoba.

Members of the ultra-conservative church have threatened to hold a counter-demonstration and to disrupt the action tomorrow.

But in a statement also released today, the Georgian Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has promised to protect the action, and affirmed support for the rights of minorities. Their “rights are human rights and the government of Georgia is committed to upholding the rights of all of its citizens,” he said in the statement.

Tomorrow’s action is planned to involve a silent action flashmob which will dramatise – and speak back to – the silencing of LGBT communities, in the conservative country. The IDAHO Committee team will be reporting on the situation as it unfolds.

Picture: An activist being arrested by police at last year’s march, courtesy of Identoba

Today LGBTQ activists gathered in Pushkin Park, Downtown Tbilisi, to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO). The peaceful gathering was disrupted by a rally of thousands of anti-gay activists and representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Around 17 people, including police officers, have been injured as a result of a violent attack on the LGBTQ activists.

The anti-gay protestors blocked the LGBTQ activists’ way to the bus, using verbal and physical violence against them and trying to break the bus windows.

The anti-gay activists gathered in downtown Tbilisi hours before the scheduled gay-rights event. The protesters held up banners reading “Stop Homosexual Propaganda in Georgia, Radio Free Europe reports.

Following Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s statement on May 15, saying LGBT people “have the same rights as any other social groups” in Georgia, Leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II condemned the LGBTQ rally, urging authorities to undertake measures against the “insulting” actions of gays.

A member of the Council of Europe and signatory to UN conventions, Georgia has ratified and signed documents and treaties prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sex and sexual orientation. Besides, Article 2 of the Labor Code prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Nonetheless, the fundamental rights of LGBT persons, particularly the right to peaceful demonstrations, are constantly violated in Georgia.

Standing in solidarity with LGBT activists and their supporters in Georgia, The IDAHO Committee calls upon local, regional and international human rights organizations, agencies and other European institutions to take a stance condemning the gross violations against LGBT persons and their allies in Georgia, holding the initiators of the violent anti-gay demonstrations accountable for their actions.

On the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia, LGBT people all over the world should fully enjoy their right to raise their voice for acceptance, equality and non-discrimination, not being harassed, threatened and persecuted by their fellow citizens. Therefore, the IDAHO Committee urges the Government of Georgia to protect the well-being, security and rights of LGBT persons and undertake measures to eliminate the hate speech, religion-based discrimination and negative representation of LGBT people.