The Equality Movement is an organization supporting LGBTQI people, whose goal is to promote the full integration of the LGBTQI community and women in society. The Equality Movement fights to eliminate homophobia and sexism in society. Accordingly, the organization provides need-based social and legal service delivery and community mobilization, as well as works to change public awareness and policy advocacy.

We present to you the activities of the Equality Movement in the month of January 2023:

• In the month of January 2023, the Equality Movement provided social, legal and mental health services to 96 representatives of the LGBTQ+ community.
• Within the framework of the health and AIDS prevention program, the organization provided preventive means to 332 people during the month of January, and 298 beneficiaries were tested for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In addition, 231 people subscribed to a preventive kit and an AIDS self-test through selftest.ge in different cities of Georgia. In addition, 38 new beneficiaries joined the PrEP program and 16 people received the chemical sex package.
• Together with the “Eurasian Men’s Health Coalition” and the Association Temida, the Equality Movement submitted a report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on “Violations of Human Rights Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Georgia”. The report assesses incidents of hate crimes and violence against LGBT+ people. The document discusses gender based, as well as domestic and sexual violence against LBT women. In addition, the report includes a document related to the legal recognition of gender, the exercise of the right to health care, employment and housing.
• On January 13, 2022, the organization discussed the legal situation of LGBTQI people in Georgia and the challenges facing the community in a meeting with Fara Karim, deputy chairman of the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, who is visiting Georgia at the invitation of the Swedish Embassy, and the speaker of the same committee, Johan Bueser.
• In January 2023, the Equality Movement, with the support of the National Democracy Institute (NDI), completed work on a video campaign. The concept and main messages of the campaign are based on the document “Study of Social and Economic Needs of the LGBTQI Community in Georgia”. As part of the campaign, three videos were prepared for distribution on social media (duration — 90 seconds) and one video clip of the type of social advertisement (duration — 30 seconds). The video campaign focuses on the links between poverty and homophobia. The videos depict the barriers that LGBTQ people in Georgia face in terms of access to decent working conditions, quality education and healthcare services, as well as housing.

See also:

• Temida — January 2023 review
• Tbilisi Pride — Review of January 2023
• Women’s Foundation in Georgia – January 2023 review

The members of the homophobic and violent party, the conservative movement, who are also the organizers of the July 5 violence, are demanding changes to the law of Georgia “on gatherings and demonstrations”. Giorgi Kardava, Zurab Makharadze, Irakli Morgoshia, Shota Martynenko and Konstantine Morgoshia want to ban such gatherings and manifestations, which aim or during which there may be “demonstrating, popularizing and/or propaganda of sexual orientation”.

In addition, the law drafted by the violent group states that it should be prohibited to hold an assembly or demonstration “if it aims at or during which there may be any statements or calls that are against any religious movement, defamatory and/or against the beliefs of people of any religious sect, insulting or / and during which there may be war and propaganda of violence, incitement of national, regional, religious or social strife”.

In addition to the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, the project envisages changes in administrative offenses and criminal codes. Leaders of violent and homophobic groups demand a change in the Code of Administrative Offenses, according to which violation of the norms provided for in Articles 9, 10¹, 11 and 11¹ of the Law of Georgia on Assembly and Manifestation will lead to a fine in the amount of 3,000 GEL or administrative imprisonment for up to 25 days. And if the violator is an organizer – fined in the amount of 5,000 GEL or administrative imprisonment for up to 30 days.

As for the Criminal Code, the leaders of the violent groups demand that Article 347 of the following content of the repeated violation of the rule of assembly or demonstration be added to the Code:

“Repeated violation of the norms provided for in Articles 9, 10¹, 11 and 11¹ of the Law of Georgia on Assembly and Manifestations — is punishable by a fine or community service for a term of 180 to 240 hours or corrective work for a term of up to 2 years with imprisonment for a term of 2 with deprivation of the right to hold office or work for a period of up to 3 years”.

According to the explanation of the bill, the leaders of violent and homophobic groups in the card indicate that the request for the mentioned changes is related to the events of 2013-2021, when “attempts to hold events related to the public demonstration of sexual orientation in public space caused public excitement and mass protests of the population, which clearly showed that in Georgian society, conducting similar events in the space of these cultural and ethnic values represents the crossing of the threshold that the state and society set regarding the norms of behavior in the public space.

According to them, “seeing similar activities in public space, especially by children, is strongly unacceptable for the population, therefore, it is necessary to clearly formulate the rules for holding public gatherings and demonstrations, because in the interests of public peace and security, similar events should be avoided.”

Violent groups name the “deficiency” of the current legal regulations as the basis for initiating the draft law and claim that “the legal regulations are not exhaustive, leaving an opportunity for individuals and groups of individuals to abuse the legal regulation and achieve an illegal goal with their own interpretation.”

The bill has already been submitted to the Bureau of the Parliament. In the decision of the Bureau dated December 12, 2022, it is written that “on the basis of the proposal of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, presented by at least 25,000 voters in the manner of a legislative initiative”, consideration of the draft law should begin in committees and factions. The period from February 8 to May 5, 2023 is indicated as the estimated date of consideration of the bill at the plenary session.

According to the current legislation in Georgia, a permit is not required to hold the rally. In the event that the assembly or demonstration is held in a place of traffic or obstructs traffic, the organizers must notify the executive body of the municipality in advance, unless traffic is blocked for reasons independent of the assembly or demonstration. The municipality must discuss the feasibility of changing the place and time of the gathering or demonstration with the organizers within 3 days and give them a written recommendation if:

• assembly or demonstration poses a real threat to the normal functioning of enterprises, institutions and organizations;
• Another action (about which a warning was filed earlier with the executive body of the municipality) is planned to be held at the same place and at the same time.

The authors of the draft law demand that all the changes that will be included in the existing law take effect on the 15th day after the publication of the law.

Note: Constantly attempts by violent and homophobic groups to associate the freedom of expression of LGBTQ people with “propaganda” or “promotion” are wrong. Apart from the fact that “propaganda” of sexual orientation or gender identity is impossible, according to Georgian legislation, every person has freedom of expression.

Temida is a queer-activist, trans* community organization that organizes, works and fights to build a safe, equal and dignified political, legal and social environment for trans* and queer people. The goal of the organization is to build a dignified, equal and fair political, legal and social environment for trans people, where their needs, concerns, challenges and rights are recognized and supported by the state and society.

We present to you the activities of TEMIDA in the month of January 2023:

TEMIDA presented the annual report

TEMIDA resumed work on January 9. One of the first activities of the new working year was an employment workshop held on January 21, which was held online so that members of the queer and trans* community who could not attend the physical workshops could attend.

The purpose of employment workshops is to provide jobseekers with information on employment opportunities, their labor rights, and to help improve skills and competencies that will significantly increase their employability.

The employment workshops were aimed at trans* and non-binary gender identity people, the January 21 workshop was the final meeting for this phase, however the organization continues to work on the challenges and solutions to the employment of the trans* community.

The activity is carried out with the support of the organization “Women’s Fund Georgia”.

Media campaign 

In December, TEMIDA launched a social media campaign addressing the situation and challenges of the trans* and queer community in the field of employment. The purpose of the campaign is to promote the needs of the community and promote the actualization and implementation of anti-discrimination and community-oriented policies in the workplace.

In January, two videos prepared as part of the “Dignified employment is our right” campaign were posted on Temida’s page on social networks. In one of the videos, Challenges of the LGBTQ Community in the Labor Market: Existing Experiences, social worker and employment consultant, Magda Modebadze, based on her own work experience, talks about the situation that exists in the trans* and queer community and is related to the existing problems and barriers in terms of employment, which the community members are often excluded from the labor market and have limited access to decent employment opportunities.

In the third video prepared as part of the campaign, which was posted on the organization’s social pages in January, activist Nata Talikishvili talks about her own experience, which puts an important emphasis and shows us how vulnerable institutionalized homo/bi and transphobia makes community members both in the labor market and in other areas.

In the framework of the mentioned campaign, informational posters will be prepared and placed on Temida’s Facebook and Instagram pages about the challenges of the LGBTQ+ community in the labor market and the elimination of discriminatory practices.

The activity is carried out with the support of the organization “Women’s Fund Georgia”. Opinions expressed within the campaign may not reflect the views of the Foundation.

Alternative Report: Report on Violations of Human Rights Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Georgia

In January, Temida, together with ECOM (Eurasia Coalition for Health, Rights, Gender and Sexuality Diversity) and the Equality Movement, prepared an alternative report for the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on “Violations of human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Georgia”. 

The report critically assesses the current situation for trans* and queer people. It talks about the consequences of social and cultural exclusion, violations and issues in the direction of housing, employment, protection from violence, freedom of expression.

The Women’s Fund Georgia has existed in Georgia since 2005 and its mission is to strengthen women’s organizations and groups in the center and regions for the realization of women’s rights, their full participation in public life and self-realization.

We present to you the activities of the Foundation’s Women’s Fund in the month of January 2023:

• In January, the foundation announced a new grant program called “Women’s Rights and Environmental Justice,” which aims to encourage women’s NGOs and informal women’s groups working on social and environmental justice to focus their efforts on women’s stewardship of natural resources, responding to social and environmental challenges, whether climate change, biodiversity, environmental pollution, chemical safety, waste management, women’s right to a safe, clean and healthy environment and others.
• Also, the organization’s open door grant program has been launched, which is valid throughout the year.
• The Women’s Fund has started preparing videos to raise awareness about digital security, which will be mainly aimed at the foundation’s grantees/activists.
• On January 27, the Foundation organized a webinar on the anti-gender rhetoric of far-right groups.
• On January 30, the Women’s Foundation held a conference on gender equality in labor relations, at which the organization summarized the achievements and challenges of 2022.

The Court of Appeal reduced the sentences of those convicted in the July 5, 2021 group violence case. The decision was announced today, January 16, by judge Maia Tetrauli.

6 persons convicted in the case of July 5 – Davit Kutaladze, Akaki Nakashidze, Tornike Davlasheridze, Tsotne Chikhladze, Gia Giguashvili and Otar Gelashvili – were acquitted by the decision of the second instance under the second part of Article 225 of the Criminal Code, which involves participation in group violence. With this decision, the 5-year prison sentence given by the first instance was reduced to 4 years.

According to Interpressnews, the announcement of the decision in the Court of Appeal was followed by noise. Family members and relatives of the detainees insulted the plaintiffs and journalists and tried to damage the journalists’ video cameras. The bailiff defused the situation.

On July 5, 2021, on Rustaveli Avenue, where the march of dignity was planned, homophobic violent groups raided the offices of queer activists and physically assaulted journalists, including TV Pirveli operator Lexo Lashkarava, who received severe physical injuries and later died. According to the decision of the City Court of April 4, 2022, 6 persons arrested in connection with the case of July 5 were sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The convicts were charged with the third part of Article 118 and Articles 154 and 156 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which involve less severe damage to health, obstruction of journalistic activity and persecution.