Haft-sin: Queer activist Giorgi Kikonishvili on Georgia's looming LGBTQI+ crackdown

Author: Sevgi Ismayilbayli

Georgia could soon introduce tough new rules clamping down on LGBTQI+ rights and barring public celebrations of same-sex relationships, if a new draft bill introduced by the country’s ruling party is passed.

The draft legislation, set out by the governing Georgian Dream party, aims to prohibit people from changing their gender, as well as outlaw same-sex couples from adopting children.

On June 27, the parliamentary majority passed in first reading an anti-LGBTQI+ legislative package consisting of a core bill “On Protection of Family Values and Minors” and 18 related amendments to various laws of Georgia. Georgian queer activist Giorgi Kikonishvili will answer our questions on this topic

Giorgi Kikonishvili is a queer activist from Tbilisi. He is a co-founder of Creative Collective Spectrum, which is a union of queer artists and activists. He is also co-founder of two queer parties at Bassiani – Hydrash Collective and Wings of Desire. He is the co-founder of the Equality Movement, which is the largest LGBTQI+ organization in Georgia. 

Sevgi Ismayilbayli talks to Girogi about the potential impact of new anti-LGBTQI+ legislation being considered in Georgia. They discuss the implications of this legislation, the challenges it poses to the LGBTQI+ community, and the broader societal and political consequences if the bill is passed, and not only in Georgia, also in the region.

What is anti-LGBT+ law?

The Georgian government introduces anti-LGBTQI+ law, they call it for their “family values”. It is definitely copy paste from the Russian law. If they adopt this law, any kind of public talks, discussions or expressions in Georgia will be prohibited totally. In the movies, books, TV, press... Everywhere. When they introduced this law first, they said that there would be financial fines in case of breaking the law. Now, they say there's gonna be jail for 3-6 years. They might require you to pay the money, or go to jail. That’s what they say. What do we know right now? Adopting this law will be very difficult for them. They need a constitutional majority, which they don’t have. They already had first hearing of it, now they say the second hearing will be in September and probably the final hearing will be after elections. 

What should they change in the constitution to pass this law?

It is written in the Constitution of Georgia that every single citizen of this country are equal to each other and their rights should be equal. So, there should be no discrimination. This law, actually discriminates LGBTQI+ community. It goes against constitution. Because if you say we have equal rights, how would you prohibit queer people to talk about their issues? This law goes against the constitution. They need to change that part on the constitution. And they need to remove the law against discrimination. We have the law which called the law against all types of discrimination. They have to make a lot of changes. 

Why do you think they put forward this law? What is their aim?

It is hard to understand what the Georgian government does in general. The same goes with the Russian Foreign Agents Law. Why did they do it? Because they want to control the society or they are pressured from Russia, or both of them. Georgia is a candidate for the European Union. They want to sabotage the integration process with the EU. Instead of initiating these new reforms which will be good for democracy. Instead of doing this, they did everything which directly sabotaged the process of Georgia’s improvement. There could be a lot of reasons. Before the election, they try to win the conservative part of the society.

How will this law affect you?

It will affect all parts of our lives. Because you exist in society, you exist with all of your emotions, feelings, thoughts, expressions. If you want to be a full part of society, you need to express yourself. Let’s say, I have a boyfriend and I'm talking about my boyfriend, or I'm a writer and I want to write about gay love or whatever, and of course, freedom of expression is a normal part of society. Our work is mostly connected with LGBTQI+ issues. Bar, club nights, parties, queer art gallery etc. We just published a book about 100 years of Georgian queer arts. Big part of our lives is connected LGBTQI+ issues. And all these will be gone. It will be impossible to express yourself properly. Everything will be like in Soviet times. Sexuality was criminalised, no one was talking about it, if anyone wanted to talk about it, was sent directly to jail. 

There are so many people who came to Georgia for safety. How will it affect the region?

For decades, Georgia has been the most democratic country in Caucasia. But I see what's happening here now, I see it as a challenge. I am pretty sure Georgian society will have their say in the elections. Georgian society already showed huge resistance. Especially in the Russian law since april. I am 36 years old, I have never seen such a huge demonstration held in Georgia. I have never seen Rustaveli avenue, which is the main street of Tbilisi, being closed on every night for three months non-stop. Which means it is a very huge amount of anger. Our region is very unstable. Still Georgia doesn’t have a strong memory of democracy. It is still fragile. If we can’t manage to remove this Russian law and anti-LGBTQI+ law, I think it’s gonna be a very hopeless situation for the whole region. If Georgia couldn’t do that, then who could in the region? We all might have to leave the country, we should consider everything.

If they adopt this law, what is your plan for the future?

It is really hard to talk about the future now. Because everything feels so blurry. Honestly, I would never expect the Georgian government to do that. I have seen Georgian governments doing a lot of destructive things in my life, but there were always some limitations. The thing was so unexpected for me, and I think, for the rest of the community. I don’t have specific plans now, but usually things sometimes go without plans in Georgia. Tomorrow, we might wake up and see a revolution happening in Georgia. You can’t really measure what's gonna happen. I am pretty sure we are not going to give up. There's gonna be a fight, if they try to adopt this law. 

What are your expectations from the upcoming election? 

I have hope, because I know Georgian people. I know Georgian society. It would have been easier for them if they wanted to adopt this law 10-15 years ago. But now we have a huge community here. We have so many shared emotions, we share our whole life together. It's a bond that's hard to break. The government underestimates the cultural development of the society in recent years.

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