July 2021 - Page 5

Tamar Jakeli – I am Also Here!

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“Just a few days ago, I was not going to attend the March of Honor planned for Pride Week because I believe that at this stage, especially given the experience of May 17, 2013, we need to think of better ways to talk to our community than these public protests. However, in recent days I have been thinking that because part of the community members think that public protest is necessary, I should also stand with them, for solidarity. Especially when the participants of the Pride are threatened by ultra-right groups who are already throwing eggs and stones.

In general, I have my criticisms of Pride Marches globally, but I think that in our context, a peaceful Pride March in Tbilisi might be a great achievement and a step forward, especially for the young queers who are eagerly awaiting July 5 to see if they will be accepted in their country or not. I was 17 years old in 2013 and I was traumatized without attending. Somehow, the next generation of activists must come out of this march without trauma – that is my main wish.

Pride for me is the answer to the fact that many queer people have to hide our differences from childhood and in the process we gradually hate ourselves. For years I thought I would always have to live in hiding, that no one would accept me, that no one would love me for who I am. And now that I have accepted myself and, moreover, many people around me have accepted me, I am more comfortable living in my own body, I am more comfortable with myself – both as an individual and as a member of a community.

We, the queer people, are always forced to give up our identity in the name of working on “common problems”. However, our time never comes in this country. In the light of recent events, all people for whom equality and freedom are important should be in solidarity with Tbilisi Pride, even if they are critical of the Pride March as a strategy. A March of Honor must be held peacefully! This is the most important thing.

“The other problems that queer people face – poverty, economic inequality, harsh working conditions, a devastated environment, capitalism and investor greed – can be the focus for the remaining 364 days of the year.”

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You Cannot Build a State and You Cannot Protect the Valley if You Do Not Protect the People – Tamar Gurchiani

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Lawyer Tamar Gurchiani responded to the statement of “Rioni Defenders” that they are distancing themselves from Tbilisi Pride on Facebook.

“You cannot build a state and you cannot protect the Valley if you do not protect the people. There is no common good that can be achieved by oppressing and neglecting a person, especially a person who has already been oppressed by the majority.

We all know that July 4 is the independence day in America. On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglas uttered the famous quote, “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” By this time the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) had not yet been adopted and black people were still living in slavery.

“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”

I wish you victory in saving the Rioni Valley; but I urge you to think about what your victory means to others.”

“Rioni Valley Defenders” issued a statement today stating that the idea of ​​”Tbilisi Pride” week is unequivocally propaganda of a non-traditional way of life, goes against public opinion, expresses only the narrow interests of a certain group and is directed against civil unity.

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Violent homophobia must end once and for all in Georgia – Archpriest Ilia Chighladze

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Archpriest Ilia Chighladze responds to the ongoing Pride Week and the planned March of Honor on social networks. He says that “violent homophobia must end once and for all in Georgia and everyone should be given the right to peaceful expression of thought and speech unless it’s prohibited by law and is not a criminal offence.”

Archpriest also talks about the freedom of expression of anti-Pride groups, that every group has the right to express their opinion, but he emphasizes its forms and compliance with the law – “every believer and traditionalist has the right to protest Pride and its ideas, but whatever we saw yesterday, has nothing to do with Christianity and spirituality; It is savagery and violation of the law.”

Ilia Chighladze focuses on a message often used by ultra-rightists and homophobic groups. They claim that with the influence of Pride a person’s sexual orientation might be changed and it might also affect children – “I also used to think like those xenophobe groups, believing that Pride events equaled the end of our country. However, today I realize that such approach is extremely primitive and pointless: peaceful forms of expression do not pose any threat to traditional values and Christianity; All groups have the legal right to preach and propagate unless a particular thing is prohibited by law. Christ spread his values by preaching and not by violence or repression of anyone. It is impossible for anyone to become homosexual because of Pride. Such narrative that “LGBT people make our children gay using Pride” is an extremely primitive mindset which only reveals its own moral cowardice and instability and insults its own and other children. No one can “turn our children gay” unless it is their personal desire and choice. Everyone should analyze and understand this. No one can physically force their children to be heterosexual either. You should also understand this and get out of the brainwashing influence of Putin’s ideologically marginalized political groups.

The Archpriest, along with legal responsibility of aggressive groups, focuses on the origin of their funding and considers it important to suspend these funding sources.

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The Church’s Path from Conservatism to Full Acceptance

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When several TV stations came to do a news story about our parish, I deliberately avoided mentioning that we allow same-sex marriage. In doing so, I tried to protect the small but faithful community of our church from even greater aggression. And today, when LGBTQ people and their supporters face so much aggression and obstruction during Pride Week, I consider the story of how the Conservative Church has been transformed into an accepting and one of the most tolerant Christian churches in the world.

The Anglican / Episcopal Church was established in Georgia in 2018, which is traditional in terms of cult and doctrine, and progressive and liberal in terms of social doctrines (attitudes towards women, attitudes towards LGBTQ people and their role in the Church …). The St. Nino Episcopal Parish is part of the American Episcopal Church, which allows for marriage equality, which means that same marriages are held here in secret and they are fully involved in church life. Consequently, the St. Nino Anglican/Episcopal Parish in Tbilisi is the only church in Georgia where LGBTQ people can not only feel protected and fully equal, but also have the opportunity to be married here, which makes this church special in Georgia’s diverse religious environment.

The Episcopal Church is part of the “Anglican Communion”, which is the third largest Christian congregation (after the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches) and unites 80 million believers. Reforms in a large religious institution are the most difficult to implement, so the changes that have taken place in our church over the last 50 years have not been easy. Step by step, on the road to full inclusion, the Church first allowed the practice of communion with both white and citizens of color, as you know USAs segregation policies involved churches as well, communion also separated white people from people of color during communion. Our church was one of the first to break this tradition and with this gesture said that in the eyes of God all are equal. In 1977, our church was one of the first to begin ordaining women as deacons, priests, and bishops. In 1989, Barbara Harris was ordained a bishop, the first woman to do so (a high-ranking Barbara Harris was African-American, which is also a political fact within the racist state of the time).

The General Agreement of the Episcopal Church of 1976 promulgated a decree emphasizing that homosexuals are children of God and that they deserve to be accepted and cared for. In 2003, the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson Bishop of New Hampshire – an openly gay non-celibate priest who was the first openly gay bishop in all of Anglican communion. This fact caused a great deal of noise and criticism, and even within the church it caused a division and 100,000 people left the unity of the church. However, this did not dampen the Church’s desire to become even more inclusive and to express God’s love for all of His children. Since 2012, the Episcopal Church has enforced the rule of same-sex marriage as well.

The main goal of our service and ministry in Georgia is to provide pastoral care to faithful Christians who feel the desire to join the church, even though they are expelled and discriminated against from their own churches. Especially such are LGBTQ people, feminist women and their supporters.

When I first traveled to Germany as a teenager, I saw a large inscription on the church façade – “Church for Saints and Sinners.” I remember it surprised me and I did not stop thinking about it. And now I realize that the true church belongs to the saints and sinners, because there is no saint without sin and saint without a crumb of sin.

Thomas Lipartian

Priest of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Georgia

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Kristine Ergemlidze’s Open Letter to the Patriarch

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“Greetings to my beloved, dear son, my little diamond. I pray to god for your healthy life, my love. We have just received your telegram, in which you write about your arrival; We arrived well, stopped in Mtskheta for two days, then we all left together. Greetings to everyone, to your loyal Georgians and Russians. Be well, my dear, may God be your protector in every deed and every step, to protect you and save you from evil. Written to you by your mother, watching your way…”

My Patriarch,

I too am a mother who lives for the happiness of her own child; For whom the child is more valuable than gold and diamonds – she prefers them to the whole world. We too are the mothers for whom the point of life is their children, whose hearts beat in the same rhythm, whose breathing stops when their children are in pain. We are also fighting for a better future for our children. We are also mothers who are “watching the way” of our children day and night. And this way should not go through oppression, violence, injustice, we should not lose our children because of violence, enmity, evil and hatred.

God gifted mothers the love for their children – unconditional love, and we are teaching our children this unconditional love as well. We teach how to stand on the side of the oppressed, how to love our neighbor, we teach the love of God, of people, we teach solidarity, being a worthy person, not oppression and violence.

My Patriarch, we are mothers too, we love our children more than our own lives, our children will surely love their children regardless of race, skin color, religious beliefs, nationality, identity, orientation, age, abilities. Because God is with everyone and everywhere, because God himself is love.

Kristine Ergemlidze

 

Photo: Vakho Kareli

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It Hurts Me That Because of Your False Statements, My Friends and I Will Be Under Threat – The Response of Queer Activists

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The initiative group of the public movement “For the Survival of the Rioni Gorge” issued a statement today stating that the idea of ​​”Tbilisi Pride” week is unequivocally propaganda of a non-traditional way of life, contrary to public opinion, expresses only the narrow interests of a certain group and is directed against civic unity.

This statement received attention on social media. Queer activist Natia Gvianishvili points out that this statement, first of all, poses a threat to the people who take part in the rallies organized by this movement and at the same time are members of the queer community. She addresses the initiative group:

”In general, it is not necessary for a person (and a group of people) to express an opinion on everything, it is unfortunate that you followed this tendency. It is unfortunate that you have spread such a statement that breaks the hearts (to put it mildly) of many people who have supported you and still do. You also probably do not realize that this statement is a direct threat to the people who come to your protests. It is very, very unfortunate that the need for political speculation has outweighed humanity.

However, for me as a queer person this statement doesn’t change much for me(I am just talking about myself here). The HPP should not be built. The state must come out of a self-colonized state where the investor (and the government’s thickened pockets) is at the forefront, and no one cares about the fate of the people. Meanwhile, some people are lecturing on market freedom. It does not work, my friends. It must end. This applies to anyone who breathes poison instead of air and eats in the ecological environment created by these “investments”. Accordingly, I support the Rioni Valley guards and the work they are doing.

It is also not a new take, and this statement once again showed that we, LGBTQ people, are the material of political speculation and blackmail (correctly written in the statement, but not completely right angle) for all other groups in society – whether we like it or not, everyone draws the line on us. Will it be a circus-like politician like Iago Khvichia who contradicts himself (he apparently doesn’t like activists) or movements like Rioni Valley guards, or the government that is trying to score points or a church that is increasing their public support at our expense. I do not know what exactly was behind this statement, or the history of its writing, but it is also not lost on me that many good people are involved in this movement and I have personally heard stories of their support for queers. There is nothing black or white. People can not change their attitudes in 5 minutes about things they were taught for decades. The work has to go on. But that statement hurts. Very much.”

Tamar Jakeli, another activist for the “Survival of the Rioni Valley”, a queer and green activist, expresses her concern about the problems members of the queer community will face because of this statement.

”I am heartbroken after your statement and I am surprised. Last year, out of all the problems we faced, the topic of Namakhvani HPP was the most pressing. I cared about it more than my own oppression, more than my own identity. I did everything to help you. I was with you for five days in my own tent and I was going to visit again. I will never forget the days and nights of Gumati.

Everyone was friendly towards me, I met a lot of interesting people. I love you, I really love you. So it hurts a hundred times more. Of course, I did not even expect you to support Pride. Nor was it necessary to make any statement. Do you know what you support with your statement? That on July 5, LGBTQ people will be attacked even more, stones will be thrown at us with more intent. But I know that you are pure and peaceful in heart. Ms. Macka first convinced me that there could be a place for me in the Christian faith when she uttered the most tolerant, most amazing words. You were wrong, you were very wrong. Why, I do not know. I’m really surprised. I will be in solidarity with your protest – this is a struggle that all citizens of Georgia face. However, it hurts me that because of your wrong statement, my friends and I will be under more threat ” – Tamar Jakeli wrote.

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Catalina – I am Also Here!

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‘The solidarity march did not start today and will not end this week. This is not just a week, the public needs more information to recognize humanitarian priorities. This week is not directed against anyone – it is about freedom of speech and victory.

Everyone has the right to speak in public and violence cannot become part of the tradition! Unfortunately, the ultra-right forces do not leave us alone, they do not want a humane society. The pro-Russian mentality has done us incredible damage.

If Pride goes through social adaptation, the opinion of all sides will be taken into account and diversity will be maintained, people will have the feeling that a healthy environment is not too far away in this country. I think that by doing so, gender identity or orientation will get rid of the label of “crime”.

It is important that representatives of all spheres are involved in the Pride, other than the queer circles. Especially writers and artists.

The main thing is to realize that we have to live in a more humane environment, no one has the right to interfere in someone else’s private life. Every person should be in favor of improvement, not violence and lawlessness.”

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Salome Zurabishvili Commented on the March of Honor

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Salome Zurabishvili: All forms of violence are unacceptable, everyone has the right to use their freedom of speech and expression.

The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, commented on the “March of Honor” planned by the Tbilisi Pride. According to the President, as the guarantor of the Constitution, all forms of violence and the use of hate speech are unacceptable to her.

“It is unacceptable for me to use all forms of violence, threats, pressure, hatred. It is unacceptable because it is a violation of people’s constitutional rights and it is unacceptable for me as a guarantor and defender of the constitution. I believe that everyone has the right to exercise freedom of speech. It is our inherent tolerance that is part of our identity. Our country was built on this and will develop on it tomorrow as well. That is why I believe that everyone has the right to speak up. Also, the participants of “Tbilisi Pride” have the right to express their opinion and exercise the right, which is a constitutional right of all, in accordance with the norms established by the Constitution and the law. This is important for our country, for our unity.” – said Salome Zurabishvili.

Tbilisi Pride Week will be held from July 1-5. On July 5, a procession is planned from Rustaveli to Dedaenis Garden.

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Pako Tabatadze – I am Also Here!

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“For me Tbilisi Pride is solidarity and supporting each other, when everything is clear and public, and nothing is hidden for the members of LGBTQ+ community.

It’s time for the society to be more accepting of queer community members. We are human beings too and we experience love too.

I am going to the March because I think it’s time for us to take our place in the society. Societal support is the most important thing for the queer community – it makes me feel that I am not an outcaste.”

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Pride Week opened with a movie screening

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Pride Week opened with the premiere of the documentary – “March of Honor”. The event is closed and it is attended by about 300 community members and their supporters.

Earlier, there was tension in the surrounding area. Ultra-right homophobic-violent groups confronted the guests at the event by throwing stones and aggressively shouting. They also tried to block the road, after which the police arrested several people.

Photo: Vakho Kareli

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