▲On 17 May 2018, activists held an impromptu protest outside the Interior Ministry offices condemning the lack of safety for their events. Image: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media
Queer rights groups in front of the 112 HQ (Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)
A poll by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) showed a small gain since 2015 in the public support for queer people in Georgia. Nevertheless, queer people remain one of the least supported groups, with only 23% of the Georgian population stating that the protection of their rights was important.
The results of the survey conducted in June 2018 were published on 1 August. It showed a 2% gain in support for queer people compared to 2015, when 21% of the population considered the protection of their rights important.
The results showed that 44% think the protection of queer rights was not important, while 26% have a neutral attitude.
NDI asked a similar question with regard to other minority groups, with 60% answering that it was important to protect the rights of religious minorities, 60% for ethnic minorities, and 93% for people with disabilities.
The survey was carried out for NDI by CRRC Georgia between 23 June–8 July, with 2,409 people interviewed and a 49% response rate. NDI said the average margin of error was +/- 1.9%.
Homophobic violence in Georgia
On 17 May, queer activists marked International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia in Tbilisi. A major queer rights rally 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 said were preparing for ‘unrest and civil confrontation’.
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.
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, was a serious problem in Georgia, 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 read.
The report said transgender women in particular often appeal to the Public Defender’s Office about the 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.
Over the last month, Azerbaijan’s official government news agency Azertac has published multiple articles focusing on ethnic Azerbaijani candidates running for the ruling Georgian Dream party, while failing to provide a platform for Azerbaijani opposition candidates.
On 16 October, Azertac interviewed Georgian Dream MP Zaur Darghalli, who said that his party had guaranteed stability in Georgia, and elaborated on how it was able to keep the peace for the last 12 years.
‘These elections are
With Georgia’s parliamentary elections inching closer, both the ruling Georgian Dream party and the many groups representing the opposition are scrambling to prepare for the critical vote on 26 October.
This week, OC Media’s Robin Fabbro, Mariam Nikuradze, and Shota Kincha discuss how the pre-election campaign period has been going, claims of electoral violations by Georgian Dream, and the atmosphere in Georgia ahead of the vote.
Read more:
* Who’s who in Georgia’s pa
Georgia’s parliamentary elections on 26 October, unlike the previous vote, will be held without any gender quotas. As women’s representation in Georgian politics remains an issue, we have examined the electoral lists of all the major parties and groupings and ranked them based on how many women they included — and how highly they were placed.
The ruling Georgian Dream party pushed through mandatory gender quotas ahead of the 2020 parliamentary and 2021 local elections in an apparent bid to pro
A Georgian elections watchdog has published a report outlining the increased use of AI technology in the pre-election period, including the creation of deep fakes based on opposition politicians.
On Tuesday, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) reported that anonymous actors had used AI technologies to forge the voices of Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and For Georgia chair Giorgi Gakharia in videos shared on social media.
According to ISFED, one such a
A poll by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) showed a small gain since 2015 in the public support for queer people in Georgia. Nevertheless, queer people remain one of the least supported groups, with only 23% of the Georgian population stating that the protection of their rights was important.
