July 2021 - Page 4

Activist Kristi Chelidze writes about the current events on Facebook:

“The state is clearly trying to blame Pride and other non-governmental organizations, whose offices have been ransacked and whose people chased down on the streets for this unprecedented violence and cruelty.

Again they tell us that we have no right to go outside, in our own country. Stirring up and encouraging aggression and violence on the queer people, in the first place. By doing so, they try to score points with violent, aggressive, ultra-right, fundamentalist groups and somehow not hold them accountable. I am not even talking about the responsibility of the Patriarchate – it is completely removed from the narrative.

We were beaten, chased, killed by the people that were instigated by the Patriarchate and the ultra-right media, and we are the ones to blame again.

The culprit is the victim in this country! as always!

I ask everyone to raise their voice and stand with us. We are full-fledged, proud citizens of this country and no one has the right to blame us for their actions! You can not do that! can not!”

“In the last few days, nothing has been harder for me than shaping my thoughts. I am experiencing every thought and feeling at once – sometimes even opposite ones. Probably weeks, months and even years have to go by for me to evaluate what we won, lost, where we were, where we are, and where we are going. I hope that when the time comes, the whole queer community will be able to do it together – by sharing experience to each other and acknowledging it.

So far every attempt by the queer community to hold a public rally, no matter if it’s May 17 or Pride, it always comes down to the processes that we cannot control. I remember, I was very scared before July 5, but I could not have even imagined that organized terror that the government and parish used against us. I thought that they would at most throw tomatoes and eggs at us. I had imagined that they would steal the flags from us and that would be as far as things went. What happened in reality, though, was way worse than any scenario I had imagined.

Exactly one week after the failed, violently disrupted March of Pride, another rally is held in front of the parliament demanding the resignation of the murderous government. The gathered people mainly talk about journalists and cameramen, especially about Lekso Lashkarava – the dead cameraman who has become the face of this protest. Almost no one mentions queer people anymore. There is talk that the government has declared war on the opposition media, that Putinist groups are directly controlled by the Georgian Dream, and that soon we may wake up in Iran. At most, they might mention that in the last few days girls and boys have been attacked because of their colorful clothes or different hairstyles. But still no one mentions queer people! Except for the representatives of the government themselves, who unhesitatingly associate us with the National Movement and at the same time claim that they are in the interests of the majority. We are practically being told that as long as they are in the government, neither Pride will be protected, nor anyone at all, that differs in any way from the majority. But yeah, not even the majority is protected from those violent groups that are still wandering around the city.

Many of my non queer friends are openly talking about leaving the country too. Also about the fact that they cannot imagine a happy, tranquil life in this country. I wonder if now they understand queer people better. That is all that we ever wanted, for the country to accept its own children. We have always supported every oppressed person, people or groups that fought injustice. We didn’t want a better future just for ourselves, we wanted it for everyone else too. This is what we are left with now: Angrier government, more abusive patriarchate, better organized fascism, more trauma, more sadness, more ager and more despair.

To say the least, we are in a very difficult situation. I can neither call for hope nor despair. Such times have come that my mood might change several times a day. I also don’t want for my sadness to cause anyone to experience despair. I also don’t want to make anyone hopeful. Anyway, we probably need to give each other hope. No matter how dark the night is for us and no matter what we bring down, we should still try pull our weight. Hope is often born in action.

Let’s remember the good things as well: I am happy, for example, when I remember how we waved the Pride flag in front of Parliament on July 6, the next day, at a solidarity rally. We sang the Georgian national anthem and at that moment we believed that there was place of us on this land. Several thousand people came out in solidarity. Maybe some of them came to the parliament to condemn the violence in general and in fact were not directly supportive of the queer community, but still the society standing there gave me faith for the future. For me personally, it was an important moment because just a few years ago I could not have imagined that I would ever dare to do so much publicly.

In the past week I experienced moments of pride. Today, for example, I am most proud of the parishioner woman who interrupted the Reverend and demanded an answer to the violence from the Patriarchate. I am also proud that there are several clerics who condemn the violence and are even in solidarity with us. I am proud to know the people, the representatives of the civil society, who work tirelessly every day to have a better future for this country.

Still, sadness is so ingrained in me, I temporarily say goodbye to pride. The time will come when I will welcome it again. We will bring it back together.”

Tamar Jakeli

Photo: Vakho Kareli

“Why does anyone think that I’m any different from them? It hasn’t been long since I started observing people, but this short period helped me realize one thing: all of us have a shared center that exists within us. Because of the violent acts committed on 5^th of July I wanted to escape the space that I was in, social media, and the aggression that inadvertently attacked the queer community. I was not planning on going to Pride, because I had already had experience of seeing how much the queer community gets hurt, especially those members that do not have any financial leverage.

My friends and I went to a village, escaping the aggression. However, I was always scared that someone would recognize me – that someone would attack member or non-member of the community. I wasn’t wrong – a 56-year-old mother of my friends was harassed because she was wearing colorful clothes; sex-workers cannot work anymore because clients abuse them; A couple I know was attacked in the street.

6 of us, all girls, went to the village. We couldn’t hitchhike because of the news and tense situation. Until then we had always hitchhiked and it has always been risky. We are not protected as women and as members of the LGBTQ+ community. All of us seemed to be exhausted, we did not want to talk about this topic anymore. When we arrived in Qareli we encouraged and comforted each other – the nature healed us too.

In the city at that time people were basically being hunted. Even now, as I’m writing this, I scroll Facebook and see how a person was attacked (possibly an LGBTQ+ community member). The incident occurred at night, the person was attacked because of how they were dressed. Before that, a girl was attacked because she had a colorful bag.

It’s not in the State’s interests to protect us, it’s playing a political game. This news turned people who were neutral before into homophobes. I believe that we have the chance to give information to people slowly, while we strengthen the queer community members and work on increasing awareness concerning those people that are not any different from us, that simply grew up in such an environment that encourages hatred and violence.

Both sides have an obligation to try to see each other’s vices, have a dialogue using healthy communication. However, the state is the more obliged to hold such events than we are. This is the responsibility of the whole state, which is obviously failing. Instead of pro-Russian forces or Parish that uses the name of the Christ for violent reasons, that are trying to make the situation worse and make use of this state, they should have a dialogue with people for whom love isn’t an unfamiliar concept, that are hated and feared of because of stereotypes and widespread lies in the society. This can always be changed with a correct approach. I believe that we can change society with slow and steady steps.

I didn’t used to communicate with people, I was angry. Now I have enough emotional resource to listen each of them and share my opinion. Direct them on a correct path, listen to their criticism and using arguments give them a chance to reevaluate. For this other type of work is required that will be long-term. It will take more time, but also it will more painless and effective. Now I’m not writing this only for homophobes or people with neutral views, but also for queer community members. However, I also understand that the queer community members also do not have enough resources to peacefully listen to the negative and aggressive comments about them.

The church is also a very painful subject. I believe that there is love within each person, that needs to be released. The patriarchy gang really unites a group where no one’s voice is heard – you can feel a kind of Dementor’s energy, which is incredibly poisonous for people who are distinguished by some sign of society.

Now as well, with their encouragement, an innocent operator has died. A tragedy has taken place and the State is responsible. They are not encouraging love. They are sinking in a swamp, losing the parish and still refusing to change their ways that involve brutal demonstration of power. The priests in the patriarchate, who do not support the common system but choose to stay silent: they are still accomplices, they are also pouring water on the mill of violence.

The brutal force that we witnessed is not the society. Our society is much wiser, understanding and tolerant. I see that in people with whom I talk to. By the end of the dialogue we come to a conclusion that no one has the right to control other’s private life. Furthermore, people have told me that they have never thought about this before. They have not thought how stressful it is for us to introduce our partners to our friends, how anxious we are; and finally, they have never thought about how economic and social problems affect us all and it is important for us to oppose that together. We shouldn’t let the government use us again, for important problems not to get covered up again. At the same time, we have to ask the state to protect all queer community members. Create jobs for all and enact the anti-discrimination law.

Nothing has more value than the individual – no ideologies or truths. Everything we have acquired should be used by people. This is the shared value of all religions. If you are told otherwise, just stop to think, listen to the center inside of you, put yourself in other person’s shoes: does the hatred of other’s make you happy? Does violence help you live harmoniously? Of course not.

People are unique creatures, created in the image and likeness of God. Splitting us into different sides will be another big mistake for humanity. That will not be useful for anyone.

The main thing is for institutions and agencies encouraging violence to be held accountable.

The opinions are divided within the queer community itself too, of course. We are not united, as people think. We are made up of individuals, some of which support Pride, others don’t; some still have not acknowledged their orientation yet. It’s time for queer community members to sit down and agree on how to resolve all of our problems. We have to make the state protect us not as a LGBTQ+ community member, but as an ordinary citizen.

Probably now we all see that we need a different strategy, on that helps plan for a better future.”

Salome Chimchiuri

Tamar Agata Kapanadze – Lawyer, Human Rights Activist, Tbilisi Shelter City Communications Manager:

”Pride Week and its aftermath have shown me a lot, first of all, that the support and visibility of the queer community has increased significantly compared to previous years.

It was very exciting to see how many people declared their support for Tbilisi Pride and The March of Honor. However, I also saw unbridled hatred and the fact that there is no political incentive to protect the rights of queer people. For me, as a supporter of the queer community, a human rights activist, and an ordinary citizen, it was shocking and difficult to turn a blind eye to the July 5 violence. A brutal attack on journalists, the death of TV First’s cameraman Lekso Lashkarava, the persecution of people in the streets for piercings – I felt as if I woke up in a dystopia and was stubbornly trying to wake up. Were it not for hate groups encouraged by the patriarchate and the government, we would not have this reality.

These days were filled with amazingly conflicting emotions and stories – with great love, freedom, solidarity, hatred and cruelty. With sensations that will follow for a long time. I want to believe that soon there will be no more hatred in Georgian society. We will appreciate our diversity and all subsequent marches will be in a calm and tolerant environment. “

I was 17 years old on May 17, 2013, I was living in Batumi and the footage I saw on TV was the final straw for me to put an end to this, to choose the right side and start fighting. Those terrible days were the last straw point for my friends, family, acquaintances, and teachers. Those terrible days, the girls and boys locked in yellow buses showed us all that the fight is not over and it is our duty to protect our rights.

On May 17, 2013, my fight began, and not just mine. To not watch from home, from a comfortable chair, how our rights, our love and our aspiration to live in a better world were trampled into the ground. It was from that day onwards that a great and long process of self-determination and public coming out began, and in this process nothing strengthened me more than the love of those strangers who stood yesterday in a silent protest in front of Parliament.

Although the horrible reality of the last few days happened again, I still believe that these horrific shots will have a positive effect on the people who couldn’t fully decide which side to stand on, the people who had a “but” in their minds and our number will definitely increase.

State-sponsored abusers assure us that their numbers are large and they are the majority. I still believe this is not the case and I am convinced that our numbers are just as large and in order for this number to grow, we must not give in to hopelessness and use all of our chances. We have to reach every last person, and if we see at least a little bit of common sense and kindness in someone, we have to explain that violence is not the answer. That it is not just a fight to protect queer people, that it is a fight to avoid a horrible reality we might wake up in someday. This is a struggle for our children to breathe freely, that is a struggle to not be deprived of the countless colors that brighten the world around us.

And most importantly, it is a fight against a state that is ready to divide and fragment our country, a state that finds all ways to shift the focus from the real issues to the insignificant and the insignificant. It is a fight for those who perceive us as enemies today and stand by us tomorrow, it is a fight for our parents, who, after so many years of terror, fear and violence, view a better life as a utopian dream. This is a fight for those 16 and 17-year-olds in different parts of Georgia, who are sitting in front of the TV and dreaming of happiness, love and a life without hiding. It’s a fight for those whose hearts are full of hope.

That is why there is no time for hopelessness, put aside your political beliefs, ideologies, past experiences, grievances, the main weapon today is love and support, this is how we will defeat the state that does not protect us. This is how we will enter the hearts of people who still have hope for a better life in this country.

There is no time for hopelessness.

Pride was first held in Ukraine in 2013. A total of 80 people attended the public gathering as a part of the Pride. Peaceful participants in the rally were attacked by members of ultra-right groups and some of them were physically harmed.

The 2014 public assembly was canceled because authorities refused to protect the safety of the marchers.

On June 6, 2015, while hostilities were taking place in the country amid a conflict provoked and backed by Russia, the first Pride March was held in Kiev with 250 people in attendance. The safety of the participants in this march wasn’t properly protected by law enforcement. They allowed the representatives of the violent groups very close to the marchers, did not stop their illegal actions in time, when they threw various items at the peaceful demonstrators and tried to break the barrier of the police. 10 people received bodily injuries, including police officers. One of the police officers was seriously injured, he was stabbed in the throat by a representative of a neo-fascist group. Fortunately, the policeman survived.

In 2016, about 6,000 people attended the Kiev Pride March and the event was peaceful.

In the following years as well – in 2017, 2018, 2019, the freedom of public assembly and expression of the queer community was fully ensured, and the number of participants in the march exceeded 8000.

Queer contacted Ukrainian women activists. We were interested in the legal situation of members of the LGBTQ community living in Ukraine and what strategies Ukrainian queer activists use in the process of advocating for their rights.

For reference: Anna Sharigina and Vera Chernigina are an openly lesbian couple. For more than 10 years, these women have been one of the most prominent leaders in the LGBTQ movement.

Queer: Anna, Vera, Hello, please tell Queer readers about you, how long you have been in queer activism and what you are doing now.

Anna: We both represent the lesbian feminist organization Sphere and are also co-founders of Kiev Pride and Kharkov Pride.

Vera: We have been in civic activism since 2007. We have been fighting for gender equality since then.

Queer: Therefore you were involved in LGBTQ activism in Ukraine from the very beginning. During this time, what has changed in favor of community members living in Ukraine and what remains a problem or challenge still?

Anna: There of course are challenges. First of all, a change in the civil partnership legislation is needed. There are gaps in our legislation regarding the effective prevention of hate crimes. Among the achievements, aggression on the part of citizens has been overcome. They may not support us, but they no longer support attacks on members of the LGBTQ community. Citizens negatively assess physical assault on a person on the basis of any discriminatory bases. Maybe it has to do with the ongoing war in Ukraine because people are tired of the violence that this war brings. In 2016, too many people marched against physical violence.

Vera: First of all, I would like to point out that the police actually care about our safety during public gatherings. For example, if both the Kyiv City Hall and the police support the Kiev Pride, this is not the case in Kharkov – the city does not support us, but the police do their job full-heartedly. It should also be noted that changing the passport sex for transgender people is no longer dependent on surgeries.

Queer: Are hate crimes against members of the queer community effectively investigated?

Anna: Now this is a topical issue, not only to investigate crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and to properly punish perpetrators, but also on any discriminatory grounds. Although there are minimum regulations at the legislative level, we do not have written procedures on how an investigation should be conducted to identify a motive for hatred or a sign of discrimination. Investigators sincerely complain that they find it difficult to bring the case to court in such a way that it is possible to aggravate the sentence under a special article.

Vera: I would like to continue the topic here about what has changed – the expression of homophobic attitudes by the police is no longer expected. If I call the police, I am not afraid that I will encounter homophobic treatment there as well. And I also know that if I come across and publicize a homophobic act on behalf of a public official or write a complaint, there will definitely be a response.

Queer: Are you aware of any cases where any police officer has been held even administratively liable for inaction and failure to protect the rights of a member of the LGBTQ community?

Vera: We know for sure that the law enforcement agency will prosecute the police officers if they have any wrongdoing. For example, there was an incident at Pride 2019 when law enforcement officers did not act in a timely manner and a representative of a violent gang was given the opportunity to physically approach a participant in the march. Although no case of physical violence was reported, the very fact that there was inaction on the part of the police was assessed very negatively. The city police chief apologized for this and promised to continue working at the agency to rule out similar incidents in the future.

Anna: Hate-motivated incidents against LGBTQ activists are still common. In Kharkov, for example, our office periodically gets egged, leaving graffiti on the walls, although this is done at night and not as before, during the day, for all to see.

Vera: Most recently, members of an ultra-right group attacked a police officer – he received a head injury, had a severe concussion, and the attacker was sentenced to only 2 months in prison. In this respect, we and the police are on the same side. They also need offenders to be punished more severely.

Anna: Ultra-right organizations no longer attack LGBTQ activists. They publicly refused to oppose Pride. They have developed a strategy with which they say nothing about Pride or LGBTQ activists in public in the open. The people who carry out physical attacks do not officially represent these organizations, although they are encouraged by them. These organizations are interested in political development, and a group that physically abuses people will not have a political future in Ukraine. Periodically trans women are attacked, unfortunately these cases often do not go to the police and investigation.

Queer: We have a similar problem in Georgia, because the most vulnerable community is the community of transgender women who are involved in sex work. According to established beliefs, the frequency of attacks on transgender women increases during the period when public LGBT events are planned and / or held. Also, some community organizations are protesting the holding of the Pride because they believe that the LGBTQI community is not yet ready for the Pride and the event itself does more harm to the community members than it benefits. Have there been similar discussions in Ukraine, or what do you think about these issues?

Anna: There was talk within the community that physical attacks on community members were carried out because of Pride. Such accusations are again answered by the members of the community and they say that the physical attacks are due to homophobia, transphobia, and the effective tool to fight it is Pride. The aggressor is always to blame for expressing aggression. I would like to add that the issue of mobilizing the LGBTQ community is very important. Pride is usually the next step. If we compare the Prides held in Ukraine – those Prides were more successful, for the organization of which the community was well mobilized, and vice versa – the Prides where the community was less mobilized were less successful. Numerous parades were held in cities where LGBTQ organizations worked to involve more community members. Community support is very important, but it is not necessary to have such support at the very beginning. We know of cases when only activists came out to Pride at the beginning. For example, in 2015, about 300 activists attended and in the following year, Pride gained a lot of support – more than 6000 people came out.

Queer: What do you think caused the upheaval when thousands of people marched in 2016 and everything went peacefully?

Vera: In my opinion, law enforcement officials saw a great danger in the fact that they were deprived of power vested in them by law, and it was passed into the hands of informal criminal

gangs. Of course, our European colleagues also helped us by sharing their experiences. They showed the police what was wrong with them – in 2016 they allowed a violent rally very close to us, there was only a distance of 500 meters between us and because of that a difficult situation was created, people were injured. Also, after the event, they did not take any preventive measures, they just let us go and then also found it difficult to control who and where they were being chased down. Although the Pride had many volunteers, without the help of the police, it was still impossible to deal with the violent groups.

Anna: I would like to add the process of reforming the Ukrainian police, which turned out to be very good for us as well. Western countries have done a lot to train our police officers and this has also yielded good results. Much work has been done in training police in protecting peaceful demonstrations. The Council of Europe Special Mission monitors the work of the agencies responsible for this.

Queer: How well known are the groups that organize attacks on members of the LGBTQ community? Who funds them and for what purpose?

Vera: Here we share the view that these are groups funded by pro-Russian money, whose main goal is to destabilize Ukraine and hinder the development of democratic processes.

Anna: We have the following strategy – we do not spend resources on studying the activities of these groups. Such use of resources would be ineffective. We are doing our job and moving forward to reduce homophobic and transphobic attitudes in order to hinder these groups.

Queer: It is interesting how different the situation is in different regions of Ukraine.

Anna: Yes, the situation is different, for example, in the city of Lvov no pride has ever been held and there, the frequency of attacks on members of the LGBTQI community and the dangerous nature of these attacks is much higher. The Lvov to me is another proof that where pride is held, over time life becomes much safer for community members. In everyday life at least. In Lvov, without any public gathering, attacks are carried out of nowhere and provoked by nothing. Girls were recently attacked and physically assaulted.

Queer: How many cities in Ukraine are holding Pride now? Vera: Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Zaporozhye…

Anna: Not all LGBTQ public gatherings are called Pride. For example, in Kherson it is called the “Equality March”.

Queer: What would you like to recommend to the Tbilisi Pride activists, who will be marching in the central streets of Tbilisi on July 5 to hold The March of Honor.

Vera: Involve as many people, organizations or countries as possible in this process. We will also help you to share information and listen to you. Everything will be fine.

Anna: I wish you patience, health. Given the Russian factor, it is clear to me that you are doing a very difficult job at the most difficult time for you and the country. I wish you strength. Personally, I will carefully and anxiously observe the events of July 5. As it is said, the night is darkest before dawn and there is very little left till the sunrise.

“I have heard so many things about Pride. I know how this week is celebrated abroad. I have always observed it with much interest and enjoyed it.

Generally, the idea of Pride is very important. LGBTQI people have to encounter too many obstacles. More or less the “diversity” of problems concerns everyone, but among them, the inevitable and unequivocally familiar, is rejection. Rejection from strangers and even more so from close people. Imagine being a loved, socially acceptable person, but as soon as you start talking about your sexual identity, you immediately become a target of aggression and all the love, respect, care disappears without a trace. Then you have to talk about constitutional equality, trying justify yourself with it and somehow convince the other side of your own morality.

That’s just one thing, there is way more beyond that,

It is very difficult to constantly have to repeat that people shouldn’t be divided into specific groups. Obviously, we are all different in many ways, but that should not interfere with our communication.

I will definitely join this year’s Pride. I don’t have an illusion that our Pride will be analogous to that colorful celebration, but I hope that the people who live around us will gradually realize that there are people besides them who have to fight for their identity on a daily basis and who are humans just as much as themselves and everyone else. Of course, we may not agree on some things, but that should not be a precondition for violence or discrimination. “