Tbilisi Pride week begins with a series of clashes and arrests
Tbilisi Pride kicks off amid far-right rallies and arrests
The first day of Pride Week – an event marking solidarity with the international movement for the equal rights of the LGBT community was held in Tbilisi on July 1 amid clashes with the police. Approximately 20 people were detained and accused of petty hooliganism and disobedience to the law enforcement agents.
Hundreds of members of right-wing groups, as well as the Union of Orthodox Parents, tried to disrupt the closed screening of the March of Honor documentary about the problems faced by sexual minorities in Georgia. The visiting guests, including diplomats accredited in Georgia, were insulted and pelted with eggs.
Tbilisi Pride will host a series of events between July 1-5.
In 2021, June became the month of the international celebration of equal rights and non-discrimination of the LGBT+ community.
Film screening under police protection
A few hours before the screening of the documentary film, in the late afternoon, opponents of the Pride initiative gathered in one of the central districts of Tbilisi – in front of the building near the Vakhushti bridge, where the film was to be screened.
The area was cordoned off by a police but the protesters kept shouting homophobic slogans and pelted guests of the film screening with eggs and various objects.
One of the thrown eggs has hit the member of the US Embassy in Tbilisi who was also attending the movie showing.
An employee of @usingeo was just thrown an egg at him from the “Alt-Info” counter-rally. Such a disgrace! #Shame #TbilisiPride21 @ikelly731 @Ilhan @CarlHartzellEU @EUinGeorgia pic.twitter.com/NDcAIp7rgm
— Tbilisi Pride (@TbilisiPride) July 1, 2021
