A rally against homophobia was held in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, on May 17, 2013, the International Day Against Homophobia. Gay rights activists holding the rally were met by thousands of protestors opposing homosexuality, who broke through a police cordon and violently pursued them, beating and throwing stones at them. Two days earlier, Ilia II of Georgia, the head of the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...

, had called for banning the gay rights rally, describing homosexuality as an "anomaly and disease." The day before the rally, Prime Minister

Bidzina Ivanishvili Bidzina Ivanishvili (; born 18 February 1956), also known as Boris Grigoryevich Ivanishvili, is a French-Georgian businessman, politician and billionaire oligarch. He is founder and the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party and has ruled G ...

stated that

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

individuals "have the same rights as any other social groups" in Georgia. Dozens of gay rights activists had gathered in downtown Tbilisi for the rally. A reported 20,000 Georgian Orthodox church members protested, led by church priests, and a clash ensued in Pushkin Park, near Freedom Square. Police forces did not prevent the homophobic protesters from running at the anti-homophobia rally participants, as priests asked. Anti-homophobia demonstrators were evacuated by the police in buses, which were attacked by the counter-demonstrators. 17 people were injured in the clashes.

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The violence was widely condemned by foreign embassies, and non-governmental organisations including Transparency Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Organization and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

. Ilia II of Georgia condemned any violence, but reiterated his view that homosexuality is a sin and should not be popularized. The

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

launched an investigation and promised prosecution of the perpetrators. Paul Rimple and Mark Mullen have described the events as part of a larger struggle between the church and the secular government. On 16 December 2021, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

judged that the failure to protect the demonstration by Georgia state was a violation of the articles 3, 14 and 11 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

References

{{reflist, 30em 2013 in Georgia (country) 2013 in LGBTQ history 2013 riots LGBTQ in Georgia (country) LGBTQ-related riots Protests in Georgia (country) 2010s in Tbilisi May 2013 in Asia

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