August 4, 2023
Georgia’s Attacks on Queer Activists Jeopardize Its Future With the EU
By Peter Lucas
The European Union requires the country to strengthen human rights. But leading up to Tbilisi Pride Fest, members of the ruling party continued to dehumanize LGBTQ residents.
(Vano Shlamov / Getty)
Ana Subeliani followed the arc of the police officer’s finger across the map of the festival grounds. Here and here, he explained, his team would stop far-right counterprotesters from breaching the barricades and attacking the crowd at Tbilisi Pride Fest, the finale to the Georgian capital’s third-ever LGBQT Pride Week.
“It felt real and trustful,” Subeliani said. But as she prepared the grounds on the morning of the festival in July, as many as 2,000 protesters were already gathering at the outskirts of the park. Waving Georgian flags and chanting “Glory to Russia,” the protesters—almost all men and many wearing the black T-shirts of the conservative media outlet Alt-Info—pushed against lines of policemen.
Officers who had assured Subeliani that they would defend the event now came to her with a question: How many people did she have working?
