As if the situation following attempts to hold a Pride Week in Tbilisi couldn’t get any worse, yesterday they did when news surfaced that a TV cameraman who was attacked by a far-right mob had died.
Violence once again marred yet another attempt by Georgia’s marginalised and embattled LGBTQ community to hold Tbilisi Pride events in the capital. For the first two of three events held 1-5 July 2021, however, it seemed as though things might be different this year.
Stratfor has published my piece on the mysterious disappearance from Tbilisi of Afgan Mukhtarli. Many believe that the dissident Azerbaijani journalist was abducted because of his writing and other activities.
Now I’ve finished some outstanding work I can finally post some of the material I’ve shot over the past a month and a half. First up, Yezidis in Georgia protesting the latest onslaught and wave of atrocities in Iraq by the Islamic State in two separate demonstrations held in Tbilisi in the first and second week of August.
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso has just published my latest article on aborted plans to introduce legislation to prohibit ‘gay propaganda’ that might result in the ‘distorted understanding’ that gay and heterosexual relations are ‘socially equivalent’ in Armenia. The move follows the introduction of similar legislation in Russia.
Aside from conflict, elections, and minorities, much of my work in Armenia focused on social vulnerability and related issues. As with some of my work in Georgia, one of those connected topics has been the issue of children deprived of parental care, and especially those with disabilities.
Recent events in Georgian capital Tbilisi are alarming many who hoped progressive views might win out over more intolerant, traditional values.
It used to be a bar with no prejudices. For local and foreigners, the young and elderly, heterosexuals and gay, D.I.Y. was one of the most relaxed drinking spots in Yerevan’s sparse bar scene. That, however, changed at around 5.30am on May 8, 2012 when a Molotov cocktail was thrown through its ground level glass door, causing an estimated $4,000 in damage, and endangering whole families living in the apartments situated above.
Armenia today celebrated International Women’s Day in pretty much the same way it always does. As a patriarchal society, women are expected to dress up and men present them with flowers. Forget talk about women’s rights and equality, although one small group of activists from Armenia and the Diaspora had other ideas. Instead of observing the day in the traditional way, they were going to hand out leaflets informing women of their rights in a country where domestic violence remains a problem and patriarchy is the norm. Afterwards, the group was going to bury the “red apple.”