Civic platform “No to Phobia!”, “Coalition for Equality” and other civic organizations condemn homophobic statements made by members of the Georgian Dream

The undersigned organizations condemn the statements by Irakli Kobakhidze and Davit Sergeenko as they are homophobic and encourage discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in violation of the constitutional and international human rights standards. Irakli Kobakhidze’s words “these people must be refused to conduct this event” is completely incompatible with the Constitution of Georgia which directly guarantees the freedom of assembly without prior permission. Furthermore, freedoms of expression and assembly are fundamental rights the realization of which must be ensured by the government without discrimination, irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity or any other ground. At the same time, the state is under a positive obligation to ensure safety of every participant of an assembly, namely, in a decision rendered against Georgia, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stated that “a peaceful demonstration may annoy or give offence to persons opposed to the ideas or claims that it seeks to promote. The participants must, however, be able, with the State’s assistance, to hold the demonstration without having to fear that they will be subjected to physical violence by their opponents” and “in a democracy the right to counter-demonstrate cannot extend to inhibiting the exercise of the right to demonstrate”. Taking preventive measures to fulfill the obligation to protect assembly participants is especially important in case of one of the most vulnerable groups, the LGBT+ community and when the government is already aware of the homophobic context found in the country. In these circumstances, the domestic authorities are “under an obligation to use any means possible, for instance by making public statements in advance of the demonstration to advocate, without any ambiguity, a tolerant, conciliatory stance as well as to warn potential law-breakers of the nature of possible sanctions”.

In contravention of the above mentioned standards, the statements by Irakli Kobakhidze and David Sergeenko do not support tolerance towards the LGBT+ community. On the contrary, they incite homophobia and hatred. These statements, as words coming from the government representatives, encourage homophobic groups by placing responsibility for a potential conflict on the organizers of the pride parade (“taking this context into account, responsible people should not have planned this event” and “they should not necessarily go for confrontation”) instead of aggressive groups whereas the latter have been და are still authors of threats and violence. Furthermore, the statements of Irakli Kobakhidze and David Sergeenko qua government representatives can influence the law enforcement bodies creating the risk that these bodies may not ensure the safety of the pride parade participants in an appropriate manner. This risk is real in light of the past failure of the government to fulfill its positive obligation to undertake measures to enable the LGBT+ community to enjoy the freedom to expression and assembly in a peaceful and safe environment.