May 2023

Elena: We should get out in the streets without flags

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Elena is a 22-year-old transgender woman. Queer tried to understand how the everyday life of transgender women has changed in recent years for her. Also, what does Elena think about May 17th; What are her needs and what does she see as an opportunity to improve her life?

Here’s Elena’s thought on issues of our interest unchanged:

During the events of May 17, 2013, I was a 14-year-old child who lived in a rural area. I heard about the crackdown on television, but I didn’t know the meaning of queer activism back then. Nevertheless, this event shook my heart. I realized the unacceptance of the queer community later, at the age of 16. I still remember the pastors running with truncheons and stools. Since 2013, the government has massively released people with criminal experience from jail – violent people, pedophiles, etc. These people were gathered by the Georgian Dream and threatened vulnerable people.

May 17th is for me a day when you come out and say who you are.

“For example, I am a transgender woman. It doesn’t matter who will come to me and hit me with stool, I cannot be changed. I am who I am, I was born this way and live this life. No one can change me, nor my mother, father, doctor, or pastor. Therefore, what happened on May 17th was a provocation from the government”.

They organized these groups, who then attacked people, the same was the case with “Tbilisi Pride”. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with Alt-Info, was mobilizing the perpetrators, who then bleed people and kill them, as they killed Lexo Lashkarava.

Although the government is trying to confront us with a criminal mentality, normal people on the street are no longer as hostile as they used to be. Even now they are using bad language and someone may spit on you, but it’s not like before when they used to hit you right away.

Older transgender women often tell us: “You should have seen what was happening in the 90s, they used to attack us with guns. When we went out to raise some money, they attacked us to kill us and we had no other option than to run away.” The situation is a little different now. Of course, it is common for passers-by to insult us, call us men. At that moment, it is better not to start a fight, but some trans women can’t stand it. If passers-by are more in number and there is a fight, no one can help trans people. The clients are often also violent, some cannot accept themselves and become aggressive after sex. They can hit you or even kill you.

“It is risky to be involved in sex work, but for trans women, it is almost impossible to survive in Georgia differently”.

Still, the situation in the city is better – people are mostly living their lives, and there are nightclubs where you can go out and not be the center of attention. While in the village, everyone knows you and no matter what you do, your every move is seen, a trans person can’t stay there. In my case, I had to leave my family at the age of 16 and go to an orphanage. You can leave the orphanage at the age of 18.

“The main problem for trans people is that no matter how difficult your situation is, no one can give you shelter. The organizations may help, but it is still hard”.

It should be noted that our situation improved a little after the adoption of the anti-discrimination law. Before that, the police did not react at all, now they might do something. The economic situation is more difficult, people did not have problems before, therefore there were more clients and more income. Now you can see that it is a very difficult time for everyone financially.

It is not easy to find employment elsewhere, still, it is not impossible. For example, one of the trans women, Gabriela, works in a medical clinic, she was hired as a nurse during the Covid pandemic and is still working there. She cares for patients and has earned love and respect from them and the clinic staff. She feels loved by people, they call her “darling” and treat her with respect. In my opinion, if you want to work, you should be able to find one. But the salaries are so low, you can’t afford to live. I am also employed, but I have to pay the rent for an apartment. I also know other trans women who work, but many may say – should I be a man during the day and a woman at night? Walking with an appearance of a man during the day is not acceptable for some, then how should one behave? If you are not famous and supported, you cannot be a woman. Some may say that I am a man during the day and a woman at night. I work in the cleaning department of the City Hall. For me, this is not a problem. I can go to work without makeup and heels.

“The work of the community organizations should also be noted. During the pandemic, no one helped us except them. They helped me with rent, food and food allowance, medicine, and one-time financial allowance”.

Among the challenges, I will point out violence, and verbal abuse. I walk around the neighborhood with long hair, make-up, and earrings, and I might get teased for that. I was on the bus the other day and heard someone talking about me: “She is wearing leopard pants”, “She is trans”. Also, we still haven’t resolved some things in the community – gays can’t stand trans people, trans people can’t stand gays. Trans also fight with each other.

As for plans, I know that I should leave Georgia.

“The country is in chaos, the time has come when even your government is chasing after you”.

To recall the speech of the Prime Minister, a few weeks ago. If Russian laws are adopted, we will not be able to walk in the street at all. We will be locked in our homes 24 hours a day as transgender women in Russia.

I don’t know what we should do about it, but I think we should come out in the streets even without flags and demand the protection of our rights. It is impossible to come out with flags at all, and maybe we could come out like this. Organizations as well as society and the supporters of the community should come out and demand the protection of queer people.

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Statistical Data on the Legal Status of the LGBTQI Community in Georgia

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The LGBTQ community has a long history of fighting for equal rights and acceptance all over the world, including Georgia. To admit the importance of a society that respects and protects the rights of LGBTQI individuals, three main aspects should be considered: freedom of expression and assembly, freedom from psychological and physical violence, and employment opportunities. In the article, we will discuss what the situation has been in Georgia over the years in terms of the legal status of the LGBTQI community.

Freedom of expression and assembly

Freedom of expression and assembly plays a crucial role in the development of LGBTQI rights in Georgia. All individuals should have the freedom to openly express their sexual orientation and gender identity without discrimination or fear. By providing LGBTQ people with safe spaces for assembly, such as Prides, protest rallies, and public events, Georgia can promote visibility and encourage dialogue on LGBTQ issues. Protecting the rights of expression and assembly means that LGBTQI voices are heard and respected, which leads to increased awareness, understanding, and social progress.

The use of the right to assembly and expression is still a significant problem for LGBTQ people in Georgia, which is related to certain groups’ attempts to privatize public space. The dominant religious, as well as ultra-conservative violent, groups have limited the LGBTQ community in enjoying the freedom of assembly, and any appearance of LGBTQ people in the public space is “perceived as propaganda of homosexuality”.

Events of 2019

Year after year, May 17th (IDAHOT), the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia in Georgia, has become a day for manifesting homophobic attitudes existing in institutions and society. Noteworthy, despite numerous public calls for violence from these groups, no appropriate and adequate response from law enforcement agencies has been made. For example, in June 2019, a number of public calls for violence were made by an ultra-conservative and violent group related to the “March of Dignity” as part of the “Tbilisi Pride Week”. They announced the creation of “People’s Legions” and patrolling the streets, however, even though the Ministry of Internal Affairs formally launched an investigation into this fact, it has not yet resulted in any decisions

We should also mention the events that took place at the premiere of the movie “And We Danced” on November 8, 2019, in Tbilisi. Violent groups gathered near the cinema openly confronted both the audience which came to see the movie and the police officers. 27 violations of administrative law were registered right there, concerning which the investigation was started, especially about the attack on the policemen and the damage to the police car. However, it should be noted that the state was careless before the premiere of the film regarding the statements of the leaders of violent groups, who issued public threats and called on supporters to disrupt the screening.

In June 2019, within the “March of Dignity” during the “Tbilisi Pride Week”, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia refused to ensure the safety of the participants of the event, at the same time, the Patriarchate of Georgia issued an official statement calling on the Georgian government not to allow the “March of Dignity” organized by “Tbilisi Pride” to be held. In response, on June 14, supporters of “Tbilisi Pride” held a rally in front of the Government Chancellery, demanding the state to guarantee their right to assembly. Some of the organizers and activists of the rally were confronted by ultra-conservative political and clerical groups, whose leaders and members openly expressed violent intentions.

Events of July 5-6, 2021

During the week of July 1-5, LGBT+ groups and their supporters, the civil movement “Tbilisi Pride”, as well as the “Shame Movement” and other civil activists organized Pride events. July 5th was supposed to be the culmination of these events, ending at 6:00 PM with the “March of Dignity” in the central district of Tbilisi. Radical, far-right, conservative, and violent groups in Georgia started mobilizing through social networks immediately after the event’s announcement and publicly expressing hate speech against Tbilisi Pride and calling for violence, including through television (“Alt-Info” TV channel).

According to the Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations, the law enforcement authorities were obliged to take appropriate measures for the immediate termination of the assembly or demonstration before the situation became critical. However, despite the hate speech and public calls for violence at the counter-demonstration, law enforcement bodies did not take appropriate measures to stop the demonstration.

Violent actions also took place on July 6th, when citizens gathered near the Georgian Parliament building in support of LGBT+ human rights and journalists. This peaceful gathering once more became the target of a violent counter-demonstration, and the number of law enforcement agencies presented was still critically small.

Freedom from psychological and physical violence

Freedom from psychological and physical violence is a fundamental human right that must be protected for all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBTQI people in Georgia often face various kinds of discrimination, harassment, and violence because of society.

The study from 2020 by the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), shows that:

  • 52% of the respondents have been victims of violence at least once in their life, fully or partly because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
  • Among the interviewed respondents, the experience of violence is highest among gay (65.5%) and transgender (61.8%) respondents.
  • Experience of violence is high among respondents living in Tbilisi (57%), Adjara (53.3%), and Imereti (43.8%).
  • Respondents were most often subjected to verbal abuse (91%) and psychological violence (81%).
  • For one-third of the respondents, there were threats of physical violence (75%) and bullying (physical or online) (73%).
  • Noteworthy, a stranger (40) and a person from the group of acquaintances (39) were most often named as the aggressors. Cases, where violence was committed by members of radical, neoconservative groups in the survey totaled 13. Respondents named a family member/guardian (10 cases) or a partner (9 cases) as the perpetrator with almost equal frequency.

In recent years, the policy against crimes committed based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Georgia has improved significantly. The state agencies took important steps to improve the quality of response to crimes, as well as to produce unified statistics between law enforcement agencies and courts, however, it should be noted that the state’s response to homo/transphobic crimes still does not meet the standards of efficiency, timeliness and impartiality. To date, the state has not created a unified strategy to combat hate crimes, which would ensure the detection of the negative social effect of such crimes, which may pose a significant threat to the establishment of the principle of pluralism and equality in society, as well as the creation of a democratic and safe environment.

Right of employment

Ensuring equal employment opportunities is crucial for the representatives of the LGBTQI community to live a fulfilling life and contribute to the socioeconomic structure of Georgia. Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity can limit career prospects, reinforce economic inequality, and hinder personal growth. It is vital to implement strong legislation that prohibits discrimination in the workplace and protects LGBTQ people from unfair treatment.

A study conducted in 2018 (Aghdgomelashvili E., From Prejudice to Equality: LGBT People in Georgia) shows that 28.2% of lesbian and bisexual women were subjected to discrimination at the workplace due to their sexual orientation and gender expression, and in most cases, discrimination occurred when hiring – 21.4 %, while 11.2% and 6.5% were subjected to inequality of opportunities and discrimination in the promotion process. According to the research, lesbian and bisexual women who look gender non-conforming/non-binary face discrimination in the labor market more often. Overall, discriminatory experiences in the private sector (32.6%) are substantially higher than unequal treatment practices in the public sector.

According to the research conducted in 2020 (Jalaghania L. A Study on Social Exclusion of the LGBTQ group in Georgia), 93.1% of LGBTQ respondents agree with the opinion – “LGBTQ people, compared to others, have less access to employment”. That not only indicates the objectively existing discriminatory practices at the workplaces, but also shows the expectation of discrimination, which may create significant barriers for the job-seeker members of LGBTQI groups and they may still agree to a job with a more accepting environment, but without social benefits and adequate compensation. This is also confirmed by the distribution of the respondents of the study according to the employment sector, where the largest part comes from employment in the arts, entertainment, recreation (32.7%) and accommodation, catering services (19.20%) sectors.

In the study from 2020 by the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), we can read that:

  • In the case of 60.5% of the respondents, the average salary of LGBTQ persons does not exceed 1000 GEL.
  • More than a fifth of the employed respondents (22.3%) are employed in two jobs at the same time, the reason for which in the case of 9% of the respondents was the lack of salary.
  • 5% of respondents indicate that they work full-time for an average of 47.4 hours per week. 20.9% of the respondents work with a free schedule, and their working time is 28.9 hours per week on average, less than a fifth of the respondents (18.6%) are employed part-time, which means an average workload of 25.1 hours per week.
  • 2% of the respondents are employed without a contract, and half of the respondents (50%) work with a fixed-term contract. 16.8% is the share of those who are employed with a lifetime contract.

Summary

Recognition and protection of LGBTQI people’s rights in Georgia are necessary to create an inclusive, fair, and progressive society. By ensuring the right to expression and assembly, freedom from psychological and physical violence, and equal employment opportunities, Georgia can create an environment where all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, can live authentically and without fear. In the article, only a small list of the problems are seen that Georgia faces today in terms of protecting the rights of the LGBTQI community.

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Friedrich Naumann Foundation held a presentation of the documentary film

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Equality 17 is an organization working on queer and feminist issues since 2016. While advocating human rights, the team of the organization uses different fields of art such as social theater and documentary cinematography.

In 2019, together with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the organization worked on the documentary film Caucasian Metamorphosis, which was dedicated to queer issues. In cooperation with the foundation, another documentary Another House was created at the beginning of this year, which tells the story of three queer emigrants from Georgia.

The characters of Another House – Selena, Gvantsa, and Tengo – are seeking refugee status and asylum in Belgium due to the unbearable situation in Georgia and threats based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The team of Equality 17 would like to thank everyone involved in the film-making process as well as the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for their strong support.

The online publication Queer, which is the media platform of Equality 17, presents the full version of Another House:

 

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On May 17th, artist Andro Dadiani set up a meat basketball shield in front of the Patriarchate building

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On May 17, artist Andro Dadiani set up a meat basketball shield as a sign of protest in front of the Patriarchate building.

As Dadiani notes, this day represents the spiritual, national, cultural, Christian, social, and state defeat of the country by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

“10 years have passed since May 17, 2013. Sometimes we can’t find the names for tragic events, and May 17th is such a nameless day in our recent history, like April 9, November 7, June 20, June 13, etc. This day is the day of the spiritual, national, cultural, Christian, social, and state defeat of the country by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Desperation from that day made me lose my face and turned me into a person with a mask and pseudonym.

The main work the patriarchy is doing today is to scratch off and alienate people mentally, economically, and socially, so that’s why my friend and I set up a basketball shield made of meat, as a metaphorical portrait of this institution.

Homophobia is a means to highlight the country’s geopolitical orientation rather than a cultural needs of a Georgian person. In this context, equality is Western, and anti-LGBT movements are a sign of Russian, imperialist policy. In this confrontation, the Georgian Orthodox Church made a political decision and instead of supporting people, became a structural oppressor against its own people.

We have to pull out this silenced agenda into the public space; with frequent discussions, we have to bring back the real meanings into it according to the public need, while the clergy jumps even higher, conquering new heights in erasing the value of human and life”, – the artist explains.

Andro Dadiani thanks the Women’s Initiatives Support Group (WISG) for their cooperation in this work.

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Embassies issue a joint statement on IDAHOBIT

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The embassies issued a joint statement on the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

According to the statement, LGBTQI+ persons continue to experience prejudice, discrimination, stigma, hostility, and violence daily and are prevented from living their lives in dignity as free and equal members of Georgian society.

“On the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), we celebrate diversity and call for solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in Georgia. LGBTQI+ persons continue to experience prejudice, discrimination, stigma, hostility, and violence daily and are prevented from living their lives in dignity as free and equal members of Georgian society.

We welcome the increase in public support for the protection of minority rights in Georgia, as the number of Georgians stating that LGBTQI+ rights must be protected has doubled since 2015.[1] We also welcome the protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression that Georgia’s landmark Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination continues to provide since 2014. We acknowledge the efforts of various state institutions and civil society organizations in ensuring the full protection of human rights and freedoms.

We are concerned that despite these efforts, progress has stalled. Newly adopted national policy documents, such as the National Human Rights Strategy 2022-2030, the State Concept of Georgia on Gender Equality and the national development strategy Vision 2030 do not include measures to strengthen protection and inclusion of LGBTQI+ persons. Stigmatization, discriminatory language, and hate speech by some public officials, politicians, media, and religious figures incite further harassment against LGBTQI+ persons and threaten their lives. Instigators and many perpetrators of open acts of violence against LGBTQI+ individuals in recent years, including during Pride Week in July 2021, have not been brought to justice, thus further limiting the opportunity for LGBTQI+ persons to exercise their right to peaceful assembly”, – says the statement.

The embassies call upon the Georgian state to ensure full enjoyment of the community’s rights.

According to the statement, “exclusion of any member of society perpetuates social, economic and political inequality and injustice for everyone, thus hampering further development of Georgia’s democracy. We call upon Georgian state, political, civic, and religious leaders to stand up and speak out against hate, discrimination, and violence and to work together with the LGBTQI+ communities to ensure the full enjoyment of everyone’s rights. We call on the Government of Georgia to align state policy and practice with Georgia’s international commitments to safeguard the rights of LGBTQI+ persons and to promote an inclusive society where everyone is safe and free to make decisions about their bodies and their lives. As Georgia’s international supporters, we stand ready to continue working alongside Georgian partners towards these goals”.

This joint statement is issued by the United Nations system in Georgia, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, the Embassies to Georgia of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the European Investment Bank’s Regional Representation for the South Caucasus, and the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia.

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ILGA-EUROPE publishes RAINBOW EUROPE MAP of 2023

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European organization ILGA-Europe published the results of their assessment instrument Rainbow Europe for 2023.

Despite intense anti-LGBTI attacks in several countries, equality is still advancing across Europe.

While the public discourse around trans people is still polarized and violent, a number of countries have introduced legal gender recognition using a self-determination model. The strong support for queer people had benefits for the politicians as well. It’s more visible in the countries, which ban surgical procedures on intersex genital mutilation (IGM).

According to this year’s map, Spain moved from the 6th place to the 4th place, Finland entered the top ten, and Greece moved up by 4 positions. The definition of sexual orientation and gender identity as hate-motivated aggravating circumstances in anti-discrimination legislation has brought Belgium and Iceland to the level of Spain. Malta is at the forefront.

Noteworthy, Moldova moved up by 14 positions, as the country’s legislation banning discrimination in addition to hate crimes and language, crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity were also extended to the areas of employment, education, trade, and services, as well as health.

Slovenia and Switzerland have legalized same-sex marriage and joint adoption. Switzerland has additionally allowed in vitro fertilization for queer couples. Croatia has also allowed adoption for queer couples.

Georgia still holds its 25% rating (in 2015 this number was 25%), which means that in terms of the full recognition and respect of the LGBTQI people’s rights at the legislative level, the country is behind by 75%. However, it is still ahead of a number of countries such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, and Latvia.

Of course, the existence of legislation does not necessarily mean its protection, and in this regard, the legal situation of the LGBTQI community in Georgia, according to the reports of the Public Defender and community organizations, is quite difficult. According to the results of the study from 2021, 7 out of 10 queers experienced physical violence at least once in the last 2 years, and 68.7% of respondents experienced psychological violence.

ILGA-Europe’s tool Rainbow Europe annually evaluates 49 European countries according to 74 criteria. More information can be found on the following link: www.rainbow-europe.org/about

 

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Initiative Group Fiona organized a drag queens’ race on one of the streets of Tbilisi

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On May 11th, a drag race was held on one of the streets of Tbilisi. Queer talked to the organizer of the event, a member of the initiative group Fiona, who spoke with us about the main goal of the project.

Fiona is an activist initiative group, which aims to gather queers in underground places and make events and rallies. Even though a lot of organizations work on this issue, the visibility of queer people is still very low, in my opinion. In Georgian movies, one rarely sees queer people. There are no queer people on TV as well, who openly speak about their orientation or sexual identity. The gatherings are important for other matters as well, it’s a way to express our existence, have fun, share experiences, love, sorrow, etc.

By the way, we even created elections on one of the streets, which were already held once and we chose the president, mayor, and sheriff. Their responsibilities are to gather queers, create interesting and useful events for them, and in general, support them. We also had the first conference of the drag queens. We discussed the origins of drag culture, how it developed in Georgia, what we have achieved and what are the challenges in this regard.

Nowadays against the government’s hatred and so-called anti-LGBT law, which is the analog of the Russian law, we decided to use the power of love, which is always stronger. So we decided to have the drag queens’ race. We decided to bravely go out on the streets and stand there as any other valuable and law-abiding part of the society, who pays taxes just like anybody else. We want 200 meters of the street to be protected so that we will come out and run. The race will also be a competition and there will be a winner, however, this is not the main point, the main thing is to oppose hatred and aggression with love and strength.

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