In the Black Sea Region, LGBTI advocates face increasing threats and violence, which has led to bans on pride events and endangered community members. Anti-LGBTI groups have accused organizations of undermining traditional values and disseminating the so-called “gender ideology”. While pride events are in the spotlight and usually protected by the national police, the daily work of the LGBTI activists and closed community events in LGBTI community centers are commonly not. LGBTI organizations need to take care of their own security by installing video-control and signal-protection equipment, paying for private security services, and even hiring private security non-armed guards to ensure the safety of participants during community events. Even the measures described do not always work to prevent violent attacks. As an example, in June 2021 the organisers had to cancel Tbilisi Pride Georgia after far-right demonstrators stormed LGBTQ activists’ headquarters and attacked journalists. The attack on the Rainbow Hub in October 2021, also demonstrated that some hate groups are well prepared to act quickly and ruin LGBTI community spaces before the police arrives and that the activists are exposed to persistent security threats in their daily work.
Our completed project addressed these challenges:
- Advocacy for Legal Changes: We successfully lobbied for the criminalization of anti-LGBTI hate crimes, collaborating with new pro-rights parties that gained support in pre-election campaigns. We garnered support from mainstream political parties following a major attack.
- Enhanced Security: LGBTI organizations invested in security measures, and our regional security training, conducted with experts recommended by ILGA-Europe, improved their capacity.
- Shared Best Practices: We facilitated the exchange of effective safety strategies among LGBTI rights organizations in the region through online meetings.
