Pro-Kremlin groups mobilize online supporters to attack Tbilisi Pride Festival

On July 8, violent pro-Kremlin protesters stormed the venue of the Tbilisi Pride in July 2023, burning rainbow and Ukrainian flags. Festival hours before the event was scheduled to begin. The intrusion forced festival organizers to evacuate as a mob destroyed infrastructure, burned LGBTQ+ flags, and looted the venue. Tbilisi Pride canceled the festival and issued a statement claiming, “The attack on LGBTQ+ activists and Pride Fest was a well-planned operation orchestrated jointly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ‘Alt-Info’ against human rights and democracy.” Alt-Info is a violent far-right group that holds a national broadcast license. The group and its affiliated political party, the Conservative Movement, have a documented history of organizing violent actions and mobilizing followers via online platforms such as Facebook, Telegram, and TikTok. The Georgian Orthodox Church has also played a crucial role in mobilizing against Tbilisi Pride events, claiming that the West imposes LGBTQ+ rights to fight against the church and family values. Georgian civil society organizations have published a list documenting the representatives from the Georgian Orthodox Church who have participated in violent actions. The attack on the Tbilisi Pride Festival was organized openly online, making it likely that police would have been aware of it. A video published by the Georgian online media outlet Publika appeared to show police officers escorting Zura Makharadze, an Alt-Info leader, and Vato Shakarashvili, leader of the newly established government-backed anti-Western movement Georgia First, inside the festival grounds. (…) Tbilisi Pride occurred amid a backdrop of escalating homophobic rhetoric emanating from the Georgian government. The government justifies its attacks on the LGBTQ+ community by claiming to protect conservative values and traditions. The Georgian Dream-led administration intensified its crackdown after it failed to pass the Russian-inspired “foreign agents bill” in March 2023. In the aftermath of the failed law, Georgian Dream Chairperson Irakli Kobakhidze blamed Georgian civil society and NGOs for attacking the Orthodox Church and promoting “LGBT propaganda.” Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives are part of the anti-West rhetoric exploited by the Georgian government, which intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022 (…) In April 2023, the pro-Kremlin Conservative Movement launched a campaign to adopt a law that would ban “LGBT propaganda.” The proposed law was announced during a pro-government, anti-West demonstration. The draft aims to prohibit the promotion of “non-traditional sexual orientation.” The following month, Prime Minister Garibashvili attended a conference in Budapest where he asserted that “forces that oppose freedom” seek to dismantle traditional family values by promoting LGBTQ+ propaganda and advocating for legislation on “gender-affirming procedures for children.” In June, Georgian Dream leaders claimed the McDonald’s restaurant chain was “promoting LGBT propaganda” and “depriving children” because it included in Happy Meals a booklet that featured the openly gay musician Sir Elton John. On June 30, 2023, a few days before Tbilisi Pride Week, Garibashvili delivered his annual address to parliament. During the speech, he claimed that “LGBT propaganda had infiltrated kindergartens in the EU and US.”

via dfrlab: Pro-Kremlin groups mobilize online supporters to attack Tbilisi Pride Festival

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