Georgia refuses to hold Pride Month events: Tbilisi Pride fears government-sponsored violence

The Georgian LGBT rights organization Tbilisi Pride said it refused to hold events during Pride Month, fearing government-sponsored violence, UNN reports with reference to Novosti Georgia.

"Back in the fall, the Tbilisi Pride team decided not to plan any physical events this summer. We believed that the pre-election summer would be full of hateful rhetoric and government-sponsored physical violence.

Now, in June, after the Georgian Dream adopted the "Russian law" and announced a package of anti-LGBTQ hate laws in parallel with the constitutional amendments, we are even more confident in our decision," the organization said in a statement.

Tbilisi Pride believes that today "the struggle for queer rights is inseparable from the struggle of ordinary people against the Russian regime.

In the remaining months before the parliamentary elections, the organization plans to convey to as many people as possible "that homophobia is a Russian political weapon against Georgian society and Georgian statehood.

"Pride Month is held annually in June. LGBT communities around the world celebrate the freedom and pride of being who they are.

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In Georgia, activists usually plan a "Pride Week" in June with a series of themed events such as film screenings, rallies, music festivals, and discussions.

Each time, participants gather under police protection. The events have been repeatedly disrupted by radical homophobic groups.