Ideas God, parades and authoritarianism on the streets of Georgia
Mar 4, 2026
Salome Jashi, a Tbilisi-based documentary filmmaker known for films about power and society, discusses Georgia's political turmoil. She reflects on mass pro-EU demonstrations, nationalist Family Purity parades, police violence and legal repression, the oligarchic influence linked to Russia, and how her film uses uprooted trees as a metaphor for social upheaval.
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2013 Mass Attack On LGBT Activists
- Georgi Kikonishvili recalls the 2013 attack where 40,000 anti-LGBT protesters overwhelmed about 50 activists in Liberty Square.
- He links the church's anti-Western framing of homosexuality to mobilizing mass anti-democratic sentiment.
New Family Law Institutionalizes Discrimination
- The 2024 law on family values bans same-sex marriage and restricts 'promotion' of LGBTQ issues near schools, reflecting Georgian Dream's electoral promises.
- MPs present it as reflecting majority conservative views, while opponents see it as legalizing discrimination.
EU Declares 2024 Elections Not Free Or Fair
- The EU judged Georgia's October 2024 elections 'neither free nor fair' citing intimidation, vote manipulation and interference with observers.
- This international assessment underpins claims of democratic backsliding and invalidates the government's legitimacy for opponents.