Proposed restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights have proven far harder for politicans at home and abroad to unite against than the government’s “foreign agent” bill.
“No racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia,” reads a sign in a small vegan café in the center of the Georgian capital, an EU flag pinned across the counter.
“The other day, I was looking at a picture I took in 2013 with my friends who are queer activists, and I realized 90 percent of them have now left for other European countries,” said Atina Bregvadze, a feminist campaigner in Tbilisi, for whom the café is one of just a few remaining welcoming places.
At the same time, outside, thousands of parents, children and priests clad in black robes were gathering in the streets for a rally to celebrate “Family Purity Day,” the public holiday declared by the government to rival Friday’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).
Now, many in Georgia’s LGBTQ+ community fear their small country is running out of space to accommodate both of these very different worlds.
Russia is conservative, and conservative parties all over the world have noticeably been cozying up to Russia for years now.
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