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| - Georgian LGBT rights activists on Tuesday decried threats from violent homophobic groups ahead of an annual Pride march to be held next week in the socially conservative Caucasus nation's capital, Tbilisi. Homosexuality is still highly stigmatised in Georgia, where the powerful Orthodox Church has previously clashed with Western-leaning governments over social issues. "Sexual minorities face everyday harassment and discrimination in Georgia and threats intensified ahead of the Tbilisi Pride," the event's organiser, Giorgi Tabagari, told AFP. "There are public calls for violence, but police don't take preventive measures." Last week, an influential Georgian Church bishop, Spiridon, called to "mobilise against sodomites and shameless people and not allow these perverts" to stage the march scheduled for July 5. On June 15, wealthy businessman and the leader of a small pro-Russian party, Levan Vasadze, issued an ultimatum to the government to cancel the event "so that escalation and confrontation is avoided." In 2019, Vasadze said he had set up squads of men armed with batons "to chase homosexuals in the streets and tie them up with belts." Speaking in parliament on Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, insisted "the right of assembly is protected in Georgia for everyone, regardless their sexual orientation." But the ruling Georgian Dream party chairman, Irakli Kobakhidze, said earlier this month that Pride organisers "must renounce plans to stage the event." Tbilisi Mayor Kakhi Kaladze said Tuesday the holding of Tbilisi Pride "is not reasonable as there are groups -- on both sides -- who can use it for wrong purposes". Critics have accused the Georgian Dream government of giving tacit support to homophobic and nationalist groups which traditionally support the party in elections and have staged protest rallies against pro-Western opposition parties. "Violent homophobic groups were emboldened during the Georgian Dream's rule," the leader of opposition Republican Party, Khatuna Samnidze, told AFP. "They are directly controlled by the ruling party which uses them to harass opposition politicians, especially ahead of elections," she said, adding that "All these marginal groups happen to be, at the same time, openly pro-Russian and anti-Western." Tabagari struck a similar note, claiming that "homophobic groups are controlled by Russia and are nurturing the Kremlin's propaganda about the 'rotten West' which seeks to corrupt Georgia's traditional values". Georgia decriminalised homosexuality in 2000, with anti-discrimination laws adopted in 2006 and 2014. im/acl/yad
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