Georgia - July 2023

Roughly 5,000 ‘protesters’ organised by several far-right organisations stormed a closed Pride Week festival outside of Tbilisi on 8 July. Facing little visible resistance from police on the scene to provide security, the protesters destroyed the festival’s stage and burned both LGBTQIA+ and Ukrainian flags. Georgian LGBTQIA+ groups have not attempted to hold a Pride event open to the public since a violent attack on Pride marchers in 2021 resulted in the death of a journalist and many others injured. In the months leading up to this year’s attack, the leading members of the ruling Georgian Dream party, the Georgian Orthodox Church and government- allied media have raised alarms about “LGBT propaganda” from sources including McDonald’s Happy Meals and the works of French children’s author Charles Perrault, who died in 1703. The organisers of Tbilisi Pride and other CSOs have accused the government of cooperating with the protesters, noting both the lack of police resistance at the event, as well as the unopposed four-kilometre march of the protesters from the city centre.

Sources: Civil.ge, Eurasianet, OC Media, Civil.ge