Published 2023-07-08 21:49
Thousands of opponents of LGBT rights stormed a pride festival area in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Saturday. They vandalized the stage at the venue, started fires and looted a bar.
Georgian news media estimated that 5,000 people marched towards the site, many of them waving Georgian flags and religious symbols.
The country’s interior minister claims that the police tried to stop the protesters, but were unable to stop them. But the organizers state that the police did not block the road to the festival area for the protesters and say that the storming “was coordinated and agreed with the Ministry of the Interior”.
Opposition to sexual minorities is widespread in Orthodox Georgia. Two years ago, the pride parade in the capital had to be canceled after violent protests.