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| - Georgian LGBTQ rights activists decried on Tuesday threats from violent homophobic groups ahead of an annual Pride march to be held next week in the socially conservative Caucasus nation. Homosexuality is still highly stigmatised in Georgia, where the powerful Orthodox Church has previously clashed with Western-leaning governments over social issues. An annual pride march is set to take place in the capital Tbilisi on Monday. "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. In mid-June, Levan Vasadze, a wealthy businessman and leader of a small pro-Russian party, 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 that "the right of assembly is protected in Georgia for everyone, regardless their sexual orientation." But Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said earlier this month that Pride organisers "must renounce plans to stage the event." In a letter addressed to the Georgian government on Monday, 28 members of the European Parliament deplored Kobakhidze's remarks and called on authorities "to ensure the effective enjoyment of the (Tbilisi Pride) manifestants' right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly." Tbilisi Mayor Kakhi Kaladze on Tuesday spoke out against the event, saying "there are groups -- on both sides -- who can use it for wrong purposes." Critics have accused the government of tacitly supporting homophobic and nationalist groups that traditionally support the ruling party in elections and have staged protests 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. "At the same time all these marginal groups happen to be 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." In 2019, hundreds of far-right activists burned rainbow flags in Tbilisi, protesting against the screening of an Oscar-nominated gay-themed film. In 2013, thousands of ultra-conservative supporters of the Orthodox church disrupted a Tbilisi rally to mark International Day Against Homophobia. Activists had to board buses provided by police to escape the mob, which charged after them across the capital's main square, hurling stones, breaking windows and threatening to kill them. The next day, thousands of Georgians signed an online petition demanding that those behind the violent attack be prosecuted. Georgia decriminalised homosexuality in 2000, with anti-discrimination laws adopted in 2006 and 2014. im/as/pbr
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