World
Violent mob forces cancellation of Tbilisi Pride in Georgia
March organizers’ offices ransacked, journalists attacked
A violent mob forced the cancellation of a Pride march that was to have taken place in Georgia’s capital on Monday.
Videos show what one source described to the Washington Blade as a “marginal mob of Christian and far-right extremists” ripping down a Pride flag that Tbilisi Pride had hung from the balcony of its offices. Tbilisi Pride Director Giorgi Tabagari later posted to social media a video that showed the mob ransacked them.
āļøThis is how our office looks like after todays attack. @GovernmentGeo and @MIAofGeorgia failed to protect people and didn’t stop aggressive groups to destroy our property..#TbilisiPride21 #Georgia #Pride pic.twitter.com/mLADg7BMgP
ā Giorgi Tabagari (@Tabagari) July 5, 2021
Media reports indicate the mob attacked journalists and stabbed at least one person.
“They declared war against civil society, democratic values and the European course of the country,” said Tbilisi Pride in a statement it released after it officially cancelled the march.
Tbilisi Pride and other Georgian LGBTQ activists accused the former Soviet republic’s government of not doing enough to protect march participants. Tbilisi Pride in its statement also sharply criticized Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Patriarch Ilia of the Georgian Orthodox Church and “pro-Russian groups” for comments they made before and after the march’s cancellation.
“The (Georgia) Ministry of Internal Affairs, despite having all opportunities to ensure the safety of Pride Week participants, did not take any action to protect the fundamental rights of people,” said Tbilisi Pride. “Tbilisi Pride members, representatives of international organizations and (members of the) diplomatic corps had a number of meetings with MIA representatives. They knew our action strategy. They were offered specific plans … but instead of measures, we have been watching from the morning government representatives encouraging violent groups.”
The American, Austrian, Bulgarian, British, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Israeli, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish embassies in a joint statement condemned the violence. The U.N. and European Union missions in the country were also signatories.
“We condemn todayās violent attacks on the civic activists, community members and journalists, as well as the failure of the government leaders and religious officials to condemn this violence,” reads the statement.Ā “Participation in peaceful gatherings is a human right guaranteed by Georgiaās Constitution.Ā Violence is simply unacceptable and cannot be excused.Ā Those who incite or threaten violence or commit violent acts are interfering with the efforts of Georgiaās law enforcement professionals to uphold a safe and secure environment.Ā They should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” Ā
“We call on all Georgiaās leaders and law enforcement to act swiftly to protect those exercising their Constitutional rights to freedom of expression and assembly, to protect journalists exercising freedom of the press, and to publicly condemn violence,” it adds.
ILGA-Europe is among the LGBTQ rights groups that have also condemned the violence. Civil.ge, a Georgian news website, reported that authorities have launched an investigation.
NOM president traveled to Tbilisi in June
The first Tbilisi Pride march was to have taken place in June 2019, but organizers postponed it amid protests against a Russian MP who spoke at the Georgian Parliament. A small Pride demonstration took place a few weeks later.
U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan in May faced criticism after she met with Georgian Orthodox Church Archbishop Iakob.
Civil.ge Editor-in-Chief Otar “Otto” Kobakhidze in a series of tweets noted Iakob “led a program against LGBTQ activists in downtown Tbilisi” on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in 2013.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan comes under mounting criticism from liberal/leftist Georgians for her Friday visit to Bodbe Monastery, where she met Archbishop Iakob, the man who led a pogrom against LGBTQ activists in downtown Tbilisi on #IDAHOT 2013.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/4UPslLM0nB
ā Otar (Otto) Kobakhidze (@Otto_Kobakhidze) May 16, 2021
National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown traveled to Georgia last week. Brown on June 23 participated in a Tbilisi press conference with Levan Vesadze, an anti-LGBTQ Georgian businessman who recently founded an ultranationalist political party.
“In country after country we find men and women, men like Levan, who act and stand for truth, for the family,” said Brown. “No lies, no slurs will stop us.”
European Union
Activists demand EU sanction Uganda over Anti-Homosexuality Act
Yoweri Museveni signed law on May 29, 2023
More than a dozen activists who protested in front of the European Union Delegation to the United States in D.C. on Thursday demanded the EU to sanction Uganda over the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
Hillary Innocent Taylor Seguya, a Ugandan LGBTQ activist, and Global Black Gay Men Connect Executive Director Micheal Ighodaro are among those who spoke at the protest. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell also participated in the event that her organization organized along with GBGMC and Convening for Equality Uganda, a Ugandan LGBTQ rights group.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last May signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act that, among other things, contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
The country’s Constitutional Court on April 3 refused to ānullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.ā A group of Ugandan LGBTQ activists haveĀ appealed the ruling.
A press release that Health GAP issued ahead of Thursday’s protest notes EU Commissioner for International Partnerships JuttaĀ Urpilainen on March 6 announced more than ā¬200 million ($212.87 million) for Uganda in support of “small business owners, young female entrepreneurs, agribusinesses as well as vital digital infrastructure projects in full Team Europe format with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and several member states.”
āThese concrete initiatives will make a difference to aspiring entrepreneurs, Ugandan businesses and create jobs in multiple sectors,” said Urpilainen in a press release that announced the funds. “This is a perfect example of how Global Gateway can make a tangible difference for citizens and businesses and unlock the full potential of a partner country by working together.ā
Convening for Equality Uganda on Tuesday in a letter they sent to Urpilainen asked the EU to review all funding to Uganda and “pause or reprogram any funds that go via government entities.” The protesters on Thursday also demanded European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “to hold Ugandan President Museveniās government accountable for this attack on human rights.”
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, inĀ a statementĀ he released after Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act said the law “is contrary to international human rights law and to Ugandaās obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peopleās Rights, including commitments on dignity and nondiscrimination, and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.”
“The Ugandan government has an obligation to protect all of its citizens and uphold their basic rights,” said Borrell. “Failure to do so will undermine relationships with international partners.”
“The European Union will continue to engage with the Ugandan authorities and civil society to ensure that all individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, are treated equally, with dignity and respect,” he added.
Urpilainen last September in a letter to the European Parliament said the EU would not suspend aid to Uganda over the law.
India
Indian political parties for the first time include LGBTQ rights in election platforms
Voters will begin to cast ballots on April 19
The world’s largest democratic exercise will begin in India on April 19 as citizens begin to cast their votes in the country’s election.
This year’s election is different because national level political parties for the first time are promising to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples as part of their election platforms.
The Indian National Congress, one of India’s oldest political parties, promised after wide consultation that it would introduce a bill that would recognize civil unions between couples who are part of the LGBTQ community. The party, which has governed India for the majority of the period since independence from the U.K. in 1947, has refrained from taking a stance on laws that include Section 377, which criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
Then-Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad in 2011 when the INC was in power said homosexuality is a disease. He made the controversial comment while speaking at an HIV/AIDS conference in New Delhi, the Indian capital.
“Unfortunately, this disease has come to our country too,” said Azad. “Where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does.”
When the Delhi High Court was hearing the Naz Foundation case, the Home Affairs Ministry opposed the striking down of Section 377 based on its belief that homosexuality cannot be morally condoned. The INC never struck down Section 377, which criminalized homosexuality, in parliament.
A 5-judge panel on the Supreme Court on Sept. 6, 2018, decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on April 4 unveiled its platform with a range of socialist commitments, including support for LGBTQ rights. Among these pledges is to amend the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 to address community concerns and ensure legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples akin to marriage.
The platform also outlined plans to introduce a bill similar to the Special Marriage Act of 1954, which allows partners to be listed as dependents and facilitating like inheritance, alimony in the event of divorce and other issues. The party further pledged to enact a comprehensive anti-discriminatory bill that would include LGBTQ people, ensure quotas in educational institutions and implement horizontal reservations in employment.Ā
Addressing the issue of crimes against LGBTQ people, the platform promised to treat such offenses on par with crimes against heterosexuals. The platform also calls for tackling bullying, violence and harassment of gender non-conforming and LGBTQ people in educational settings, enforcing anti-hazing policies and combating hazing based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The platform further touched issues related to transition and informed consent.
The Special Marriage Act of 1954 is a law that provides for civil unions among Indians and Indian nationals who live abroad, regardless of the religion or faith followed by either party. This law enables people from two different religious backgrounds to enter into marriage. Parliament in 2019 passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act that extended rights to trans people.
Brinda Karat, a former member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, andĀ leaderĀ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), spoke with the Washington Blade and said the current government has homophobic ideas that are not acceptable to the party.
The ruling government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is striving to secure more than 400 parliament seats in the upcoming election, aiming for a substantial majority.
Various polls conducted by Indian news organizations indicate a probable victory for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. In response to the BJP’s dominance, Congress and several national and regional parties have joined forces as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
This alliance comprises 26 opposition political parties. Despite its formation, however, there is no clear coalition strategy in place and only two parties have included LGBTQ-specific policies in their election platforms.
The Blade reached out to Congress’ spokesperson for comment, but has not received a response. The BJP also did not respond to a request for comment.
The party has yet to release its election platform.
Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered many stories for Washington and Los Angeles Blades from Iran, India and Singapore. He recently reported for the Daily Beast. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is on Twitter at @mohitkopinion.
Africa
Ugandan activists appeal ruling that upheld Anti-Homosexuality Act
Country’s Constitutional Court refused to ‘nullify’ law
Twenty-two LGBTQ activists in Uganda have appealed this month’s ruling that upheld the country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
The Constitutional Court on April 3 refused to “nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.”
President Yoweri Museveni last May signed the law, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
The U.S. subsequently imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.
Media reports indicate Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha and Jacqueline Kasha Nabagesara are among the activists who filed the appeal.
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