“We are affected and concerned by the poverty, unemployment, occupation and social inequality in Georgia.” Tbilisi Pride
On 08 July 2019 the time had come: the first Pride demonstration in Georgia finally took place! About forty activists* gathered in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tbilisi and demonstrated for equal rights, against homophobia and transphobia and especially against the politics of the state.
Unlike in some European countries, where the Pride Parades have degenerated into an almost depoliticized mass event (e.g. Berlin), there were some complications in the run-up to the Pride in Tbilisi. How critical it may be to demonstrate only for equal rights in the bourgeois society, this struggle in authoritarian states means one that can effect life and death. In Georgia, too, the fight for equal civil rights is one that goes to the root of the problem.
But what happened? Actually, the first Pride Parade in Georgia’s history was scheduled for June 22. In the run-up to the parade, however, there were protests in front of the parliament. The trigger for this was the opening of a parliamentary session on Orthodoxy by the Russian Christian Orthodox MP Gavrilov, while he was sitting in a seat reserved for Georgian parliamentarians. In the following tthousands protested against the government and its pro-Russian policy, which had long been criticized. Demands for the resignation of Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia were made. However, the protests were violently suppressed by the state and its police. There were hundreds of injured people who needed medical care. Two people even lost their sight in one eye.
These protests were part of the general political conflict in Georgia, but became increasingly critical for the government in general.
And for years there has been a huge threat to the LGBTIQ community from nationalists and neo-Nazis. The Christian Orthodox Church wanted to ban the Pride. In the run-up, these threats intensified and the state did not protect the Pride organizers in any way.
Because of the unrest, the organizers could not guarantee the safety of the demonstrators and cancelled the Pride Parade for 22 June. Then the Ministry of the Interior was asked when there could be cooperation for the parade. However, the state refused any cooperation, did not reply to the organisers and announced on 07 July that the Tbilisi Pride was “staging a provocation”. It was associated with the government-critical protests. Thus the Pride became more than ever a fundamental critical event against the government. This radicalism had not been planned in advance, which also shows the previous requests to the Ministry of the Interior for cooperation.
On the day itself there were two demonstrations. One was the small Pride demonstration in front of the Ministry of the Interior and the other was a nationalist demonstration.
Even though the Pride took place in a different setting than planned, it is still a success. It is a success that the demonstrators have gathered on the streets and found the courage to fight together in solidarity. It is a success that the discussions on LGBTIQ issues have found their way more into society and have thus achieved greater visibility. The success is a visible resistance against the prevailing conditions.
Last but not least, one can see that the state is not an accomplice in the fight against inequality. It is an expression of the policy of the country, which is liberal towards the outside world in order to be able to join the EU, but at the same time pursues its own power interests and represents nationalistic ideals, which are widespread in Georgian society. This is also the conclusion of the Pride organisators: „ The ruling party simply does not have a political will to ensure its LGBTIQ citizens’ right of peaceful assembly”.
We support the progressive forces in Georgia, which have shown that we ourselves must take our resistance to the streets to make it heard and visible!
For more information:
Review of events in the run-up to and around the Pride
https://civil.ge/archives/312441
https://civil.ge/archives/312441
To the topic of Gavrilov:
https://jam-news.net/who-is-the-russian-orthodox-communist-who-provoked-protests-in-tbilisi/
- nb