“Read books — that’s how you will understand that nothing happens for the first time and nothing ends with you losing a battle,” — these are the words Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili answered a student’s question after finishing a public lecture at Ilia State University. The topic was censorship under totalitarian regimes. The law, which we will discuss once again in this article, this time from the perspective of representatives of the arts and academia, threatens to censor books, among many others.
The homophobic, discriminatory, and human rights-restrictive law adopted by the Georgian Dream will come into force on December 2. A few days before that, writer, literary critic, and translator Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, film critic Teo Khatiashvili, and art critic Keti Shavgulidze will discuss its harmfulness with Aprili Media. They tell us about the impending dangers that queer people, first of all, and then every citizen, face. In addition, they also talk about the negative impact and consequences that, after the law comes into force, will affect not only people, but also art and the academic space.
“LGBT Propaganda” — A Threat That Doesn’t Exist
Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili talks to us about the fabricated narrative that was first used by authoritarian regimes in other countries to restrict fundamental human rights, and now the Georgian Dream has brought to the agenda to pass a homophobic law.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
The writer points out the absurdity of “LGBT propaganda” and cites the following parallel to make it easier to understand:
“How can there be propaganda about femininity, can you imagine it?! Or how can there be propaganda about Chineseness? What kind of propaganda do we have to give me so that I suddenly become an ethnic Chinese, that’s impossible. It’s absolutely unthinkable. I don’t know, especially not a literary work, this is no longer the world and the earth where someone can commit suicide because of the “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” This is a great misunderstanding, a misunderstanding like a great instinct of oppression.”
Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili offers another example to illustrate the absurdity of this narrative:
“I think that one of the most beautiful living beings I have ever seen is Sophia Loren, a young Sophia Loren dancing the mambo… I don’t like women, what greater propaganda can you put before me, but I don’t like them, you can’t do anything about it. No, you can’t do it. Yes, I might step over myself, give in, if they tell me that what the hell… they’ll burn down the university if I don’t have sex… What are they telling me?! Everyone knows this, even a 4th grader knows this. What propaganda?! What are they talking about?! I’m talking about university students who have a passport, the right to participate in elections — I’ll tell you more, the duty to go to the guard to defend the homeland. In other words, they are adults for death and for making some decisions, right?!” says the writer.
Vaguenesses of the Law
Aprili Media respondents point to technical flaws in the law, inconsistencies with the title, and vagueness. According to Teo Khatiashvili, the main inaccuracy is in the title itself. The law, titled “On Family Values and the Protection of Minors,” also applies to educational institutions — a place where you can rarely find a student under the age of 18, except in exceptional cases. The film critic emphasizes that such inconsistencies are characteristic of authoritarian regimes.
Authoritarianism is characterized by this absurdity, by inconsistencies that leave unfilled black holes, so to speak, that are not precisely defined, but, on the contrary, this is precisely what helps them to use this law according to the situation and to enforce it against whomever they want.
Keti Shavgulidze speaks about the inaccurate and manipulative provision in the hate law. The case concerns “popularization,” which is defined as: the dissemination of information that “in the opinion of an objective observer, presents a person’s belonging to no biological sex and/or belonging to a sex different from their biological sex, relationships expressed as a sign of sexual orientation between representatives of the same biological sex, or incest as positive and/or exemplary.”
“It is a completely unclear and vague record and provides a great deal of room for interpretation and manipulation for all those officials who will have the opportunity to restrict freedom of speech,” she notes.
Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili draws attention to another vague part of the law, the so-called objective observer. According to the law, it is them who has the privilege to determine and assess whether you are violating the restrictions set forth in the law, after which, based on their own “objective” conclusion, they can hear you in the relevant body. According to Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, no one can be objective and, perhaps, the basis for the “hearing” is a completely different pretext, which the law does not (cannot) provide.
“When it is possible to encourage this [listening], I think it is already a huge evil […] There may be a person in the audience who is upset with me, I don’t know why; because last semester they got 78 points instead of 100, and I didn’t even think that I would ruin their biography because of it. No one can be objective,” notes Anna.
A Law that Restricts the Fundamental Right to Education
Ana, Teo, and Keti have been lecturers for years. The hate law, which, among many others, affects one of the most important, fundamental rights to education, also threatens to restrict their academic freedom.
Within the framework of the hate law, new entries appear in the Law on Early Childhood and Preschool Education , as well as in the Law on Vocational Education and Higher Education. Here is what it says:
“It is prohibited to include in the educational and/or educational program of an institution such information and/or to facilitate the dissemination of such information on the territory of this institution by an employee of this institution, which is aimed at popularizing a person’s attribution to any biological sex or/and attribution to a sex different from his/her biological sex, relations expressed as a sign of sexual orientation between representatives of the same biological sex, or incest.”
Violation of these articles is subject to administrative liability. The law states that in such a case, an individual will be fined 1,500 GEL, and a legal entity – 4,000 GEL.
Despite all this, none of our respondents plans to adapt the syllabus to “legal standards.” According to Keti Shavgulidze, she is not going to give in, and no one will force her to hide the truth from students.
“Should I introduce lovelessness into my lecture?! This law tells me to sever this connection with my students. I am told not to talk about it; I am told to keep quiet about it, not to tell stories about freedom, not to talk about art, because it will become impossible to talk about art under the conditions, the brutal frameworks this law imposes on us.”
[…] I can’t imagine sending someone to watch me, to listen to me. How can that be done, with hearing aids? What if I’m confronted with a student who records my lecture and goes out and tells someone that I’m talking positively about it, that I love all this, that I love art, that I love artists?!” she notes.
Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili explains that the literature is so vast that it is possible to replace it with something in the teaching materials, however, she does not understand “where the trap is” hidden in the law, therefore, she does not understand why she could be considered a propagandist.
Teo Khatiashvili speaks about the restriction of academic freedom and its impact on students. According to her, the history of cinema has already been written, so after this law comes into force, not only the history of cinema, but also the knowledge of students will be impoverished.
“I am not going to revise the syllabus. When I discuss these directors, I am not promoting anything, I am simply discussing their work, in some cases, if necessary, because very often some themes revealed in their work are intertwined with their biography, their experience, so I sometimes have to introduce these biographical elements… I will not change the syllabus in principle,” Teo Khatiashvili tells us.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
She emphasizes that it is necessary for the academic sphere to be analytical and that it has nothing to do with the populist thesis called “degradation of family sanctity.” She also notes that lecturers should not be so easily subjected to this absurd law.
The Law that Censors Art
Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili’s novel, “Who Killed Chaika?” is one of the books that may be on the list of banned books after the law comes into effect. The writer speaks to Aprili Media about the enormous threat of censorship that threatens books, films, plays, and art after the law comes into effect.
I can’t imagine that someone would consider my lovely novel, “Who Killed Chaika?”, as “LGBT propaganda” and that reading it would make a gentleman look lustfully at his neighbor Nugzar… I don’t believe it, and no one on planet Earth believes it, so this is a different story, a completely different one, which I didn’t understand.
“If I believe what I read, my heart might break. Talking about censorship, I thought it would never happen in my reality again. For some reason, I was deeply convinced of that,” Ana notes.
According to her, due to the vagueness of the law, there is a wide space for interpretation, and if a person wants to discover “evil”, they can find it everywhere – in any book, and she cites such examples:
“Name any work… I’ll tell you something right now that will break your heart. I’ll tell you that Jane Eyre is a mercantile, nasty girl, I’ll definitely tell you what the problem is; I’ll tell you that Ernest Hemingway preached perverted love; what are we talking about?!”, — the writer notes.
Keti Shavgulidze evaluates the attempt to interfere in art through the law as “murder of the future.” According to the art critic, it is even embarrassing to talk about restricting one’s own academic freedom when queer artists themselves are facing very difficult times and not only dangerous, but also brutal conditions are emerging.
“These conditions make it impossible for queer artists to live here. I can’t even imagine how an exhibition can be held, how their work can be presented, it’s completely unimaginable to me,” says Keti
Cover of the book “Blue — A Queer Story in Georgian Art” . Authors of the idea: Uta Bekaia, David Apakidze; Project leaders: Naja Orashvili, Giorgi Kikonishvili; Project advisor: Ketevan (Keti) Shavgulidze; Design: Manana Arabuli / Black Dog Studio; Communications manager: Natalia Nikatsadze; Publisher: Creative Collective Spectrum; The project is implemented with the financial support of the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Embassy of Switzerland (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Photo: Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
On March 6, 2024, the presentation of the book “Blue — A Queer Story in Georgian Art” was held.
“ If you put it in the sun, then it reflects this entire spectrum of different colors. If it is in the shade, it becomes different, sad and gray, it seems to change its mood depending on the environment it finds itself in,” — this is how the art historian describes the book “Blue”, which, in her words, conveys the relationships, connections and attitudes that are saturated with Georgian and world history.
Keti Shavgulidze notes that the book was immediately declared propaganda, and now it is threatened with a ban.
“This book may become banned literature from December 2, but it will be kept in everyone’s home as a symbol of what art is, what freedom is, and what courage is, and how art can survive even in very difficult times, because it tells us about life, and no one can stop life,” the art critic tells us.
The Future Under the Hate Law
According to Teo Khatiashvili, no one should have any hope or reason to reassure themselves that they will have a peaceful life in a country with such an increasingly undemocratic government.
Keti Shavgulidze talks about the dangerous perspective that may arise after the law comes into force. According to Keti, we have plunged ourselves into such great darkness that it may become impossible to find a way out. The art critic speaks about the example of Russia and notes that, unlike Georgia, it took years to adopt such brutal laws even there.
Vakho Kareli / Aprili Media
What punishment awaits me? They say that first they will fine me, then they will fine me more, then they will fine the institution, then they will ban me from my favorite job, and then I may end up in prison. I will also give lectures there, I will also talk to people who have committed very important crimes, but I will also talk about eros, love, the destruction of freedom, and courage there. Because without this, neither I nor humanity exist.
The art critic suggests that in the near future, the works of queer artists may no longer see the light of day. Moreover, the artists themselves may have to leave the country.
“Perhaps they will soon be included in the fund; perhaps they will soon be threatened with being locked in the dark, as they were before,” she notes.
Nevertheless, the art critic thinks there is a solution.
“We must be able to find a way. I do not believe that there are no ways and I do not believe that there is no solution. As life must prevail… there cannot be no light. All eternal darkness must someday be illuminated by light. There is no night that is not followed by day and there is nothing that the sun does not illuminate and radiates warmth, love and eros with these rays,” Keti told us at the end of the interview.