Georgian public advocate calls on gov’t to prevent, investigate crimes against LGBT+ community

Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has called on state agencies to prevent possible crimes and investigate alleged crimes committed against the LGBT+ community which hamper sexual minorities publicly mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17 or be confident that their rights would be propected.  

“May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which aims to condemn violence and express solidarity with LGBT + people. However, LGBT + people and their supporters have not been able to celebrate this day publicly for years due to the risks of violence and the lack of state guarantees of protection,” Lomjaria said on Tuesday. 

She  suggested that “particularly alarming” were the events of last year during Tbilisi Pride Week, when leaders and other members of far-right groups “directly and publicly called for violence against members of the LGBT + community and their supporters.” 

“On July 5, 2021, the day of the March of Dignity,the law enforcement failed to prevent a large-scale attack on journalists and human rights activists by these violent groups, resulting in a number of people being physically seriously injured,” Lomjaria said.

She stated that although the visibility of the LGBT + community has increased over the years and the discriminatory attitudes in the society have decreased, this process has not been accompanied by a “consistent and thoughtful state policy.” 

“Moreover, state legal inaction encourages inequality among LGBT + people in almost all areas of public life, fails to improve their quality of life and leaves them vulnerable to violence and discrimination,” Lomjaria stated.

She stated that an important challenge is the issue of timely, effective and accountable investigation of hate crimes. 

“The state has not yet developed a unified strategy to combat hate crimes, and the state response to homo / transphobic crimes still fails to meet standards of efficiency, timeliness and impartiality,” said Lomjaria.