Local community organizations work to create equal and safe social, political and legal environments and respectful lives for queer people. To achieve the goal, in addition to different activities that involve queer rights advocacy, raising community awareness, and more, organizations also offer services to queer people.
Services include informing queer people about their rights, opportunities and non-discriminatory approaches; Also, legal and psychological services, social worker services, free tests for sexually transmitted diseases and more. Services are provided through various information campaigns, as well as with meetings and trainings.
Among the organizations are “Equality Movement“, “Temida“, “Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group” (WISG), “Tbilisi Pride“, “Peripheria“.
In this article, we will discuss the projects of Tbilisi Pride.
What Projects Does Tbilisi Pride Have for Queers?
“Tbilisi Pride” is an LGBTQ+ movement that believes in the idea of equality and fights against homo/transphobia, and constantly strives to create safe and inclusive spaces for self-development.
The mission of “Tbilisi Pride” is to create an equal and free environment for LGBTQ+ people, by putting the community’s challenges on the political agenda, empowering the community and changing public opinion. To achieve the set mission and goals, “Tbilisi Pride” uses visibility policy as its main tool.
Projects of the Organization
“Tbilisi Pride” does not have the services of a lawyer, psychologist and social worker that other community organizations offer to queers, although the organization’s team tries to inform and empower community members, their parents and supporters through various projects and a series of meetings.
Pride Week
Since 2019, “Tbilisi Pride” joins the World Pride and Dignity Month every year and holds Pride Week. Pride week is an opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people to see each other, unite, express themselves freely and fight for their rights.
The week includes events of a political, cultural and academic nature, including the International LGBTQI Conference and the Pride Festival.
The Drag Ball
The Drag Ball is a series of queer nights organized by “Tbilisi Pride” and the initiative group, which was created in March 2022 and has become the most important cultural and social event of the city. The goal of The Drag Ball is to support, empower, and offer a safe space for LGBTQ+ artists to express themselves. The Drag Ball nights are themed differently, the performers offer the audience a variety of shows and always respond to current socio-political topics.
Common Language
“Common Language” is a Tbilisi Pride media project inspired by the American online show Middle Ground. The participants debate on topics relevant to society, listen to all positions and try to find a common language. The goal of the program is to bring the conflicting parties into a dialogue with each other. In the opinion of the organization, there is no alternative to talking to people with opposing opinions and different experiences. Their position is that the society vitally needs to find a common language through calm and reasoned dialogue, therefore “common language” is a step forward on the way of building a democratic society.
You can see the series fully at this link.
Proud Families
“Proud Families” is one of the most important projects of the organization and aims to support the families of LGBTQ+ people. Events designed to share experiences and knowledge within the project provide a safe space where families can deepen their knowledge and better understand the experiences of their loved ones. In addition, a variety of informational materials on LGBTQI+ issues are being created to overcome fears in a way based on facts, compassion and mutual respect.
Activist Camps
The organization regularly conducts educational activities such as the School of Queer Influencers, activist schools and camps.
Event participants learn and discuss topics such as gender and sexuality, human rights, democracy, queer history, civic activism, project and campaign implementation, and more.
In addition, the organization’s approach is distinguished by the fact that, in addition to transferring knowledge, information and skills to LGBTQ+ people, they give people the opportunity to implement LGBTQ+ equality-supporting initiatives, projects, for which they often share the organization’s resources and platforms.
Work in the Regions
“Tbilisi Pride” works in the regions of Georgia to raise awareness of LGBTQI issues and promote equality. Currently, “Tbilisi Pride” is in four regions of Georgia: Kakheti, Samegrelo, Adjara and Racha, where they meet and work with young people, students, civil society organizations, media and LGBTQI people. Meetings, film screenings, discussions, public lectures and trainings — this is a list of events that the organization carries out within the project.
To learn about Tbilisi Pride’s current projects and other news, visit their Facebook page, and in case of questions, use their e-mail: [email protected]
Read about the services of other organizations as well: