A new law modeled on Russian policies is limiting minority rights in Georgia. It's causing fear in the LGBTQ+ community and concern about human rights from the EU.
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00:00In recent years, Georgia has seen a rise in hate crimes and violence against the LGBTQ
00:07plus community.
00:08It's a painful reality that Tamar Jackelly is confronted with regularly.
00:14The door to her organization's offices still bear the signs of vandalism.
00:19Some of the activists are here for a meeting.
00:22Tamar Jackelly is director of Tbilisi Pride, a group that advocates for the queer community.
00:27They're a minority that feels increasingly under threat.
00:33Everybody who is queer feels really panicked and a lot of people have been leaving Georgia
00:37actually in the last few months.
00:39We've seen a lot of people that I personally know go abroad to seek asylum because they
00:45feel that it's not so safe anymore.
00:49That's largely due to new legislation that went into force in Georgia just a few weeks
00:53earlier.
00:55According to its advocates, the main law, called On Family Values and Protection of
00:59Minors, will shield children and young people from supposed LGBTQ plus propaganda.
01:06The law bans same-sex marriage, adoption by non-heterosexual couples, gender reassignment
01:11surgery and public advocacy of LGBTQ plus rights.
01:15The worst of all, says Tamar Jackelly, is that the law is fueling hatred in Georgian
01:19society.
01:21And the day after the adoption of this entire LGBT bill, really the most famous trans woman
01:28got murdered.
01:29So actually, trans people have it the most difficult.
01:33Blogger, actor and model Kazaria Abramidze was the first person in Georgia to publicly
01:40come out as transgender.
01:44The day after the new law was passed, she was killed.
01:49Tamar has also experienced violence, as the organizer of Tbilisi Pride last year.
01:55She reported live on Georgian television, describing how she and fellow campaigners
01:59were attacked by a homophobic mob shortly before the event.
02:03The Pride festival was cancelled.
02:06We got basically surrounded by the far right.
02:09We got thrown stones and bottles.
02:12It was horrible.
02:13It just felt like all these months of work that we had put into organizing the festival
02:17and all this, it had just been for nothing.
02:21The activists say the rise of hatred and violence is due to Arakli Kobakidze, the incumbent
02:26prime minister, who, according to official results, was re-elected to his post.
02:31Despite accusations of electoral fraud, he says his mandate has been confirmed.
02:38The last four years have been particularly difficult.
02:43We had to overcome many challenges, and we couldn't have achieved any success without
02:48the Georgian people standing by their elected government.
02:56But on the streets of Tbilisi, people seem largely accepting of LGBTQ plus rights.
03:02I have a very loyal attitude.
03:06Everyone has the freedom to live the way they want.
03:14If we are a democratic country, there shouldn't be laws like this.
03:21It's a disgrace that the government passed this law.
03:28What good is the Pride festival anyway?
03:31They can live freely either way.
03:33I'm against violence and insults.
03:40Georgia is a conservative country, and the Orthodox Church wields a great deal of power.
03:46Analysts say that Georgian society has become somewhat more accepting in recent years.
03:50But the new law and the conservative Georgian Dream Party, which was declared the winner
03:54of the parliamentary elections on October 26, could reverse that trend.
04:01This law does not change much on the ground.
04:06There is no legal ground for neither same-sex marriages nor partnership law, nothing of
04:12this sort.
04:13On the contrary, this law can be used as grounds to go after other opposing voices as well.
04:25Georgia was granted candidate status for EU accession negotiations almost a year ago.
04:30The talks have been on hold for the past six months, after Georgia passed a controversial
04:35foreign influence law, another restrictive law like the one that claimed to be countering
04:40LGBTQ plus propaganda.
04:43The elections are unlikely to change that, but Tamar is not giving up.
04:47We will get to work, and we will have to knock on the doors of the opposition, of the new
04:52coalition government, so that at first they abolish the anti-LGBT bill, along with the
04:58other anti-democratic laws in Georgia.
05:02But the road to change will be long and rocky.