The trends outlined in March were: 

• Homophobic statements were mainly made with regard to the demonstrations held on 7-8 March to voice protest against the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, in which young protesters, in general, and Lazare Grigoriadisi who was arrested in connection with the demonstrations were discredited on homophobic grounds. 

• Some of the xenophobic statements were against the sale of immovable property to foreign citizens, while others kindled antiimmigration sentiments and, alluding to the example of Britain, emphasized the unacceptability of allowing migrants to hold political offices.

• Armenophobic statements which were made also in connection with the protest demonstrations on 7-8 March, presented the Armenian identity in a negative light by speculating about the ethnic origin of Lazare Griogoriadisi, a protest participant.

• Much like in previous years, the majority of Turkophobic statements portrayed Turkey as a historical occupier of Georgia and created a false dichotomy between it and the current occupation of Georgia by Russia. It is worth to note that against Islamophobic statements, the emphasis in them were placed on the fact that Georgia and Russia have a shared religion.

• Targets of discrimination on the ground of religion were Islam and non-dominant religious groups. The latter were portrayed as sects pursuing their political agenda.

• Sexist hate speech targeted women who showed their solidarity with the protest demonstrations on 7-8 March.

• Anti-Western message presented the Western funding as supporting homosexual filth and imposing the values that are strange to Georgia. At the same time, a dichotomy was created between the Orthodox Christian Russia that fights against homosexuality and the West that imposes immoral mode of life.

In March, homophobic statements were mainly made with regard to the demonstrations held on 7-8 March to voice protest against the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, in which young protesters, in general, and Lazare Grigoriadisi who was arrested in connection with the demonstrations were discredited on homophobic grounds. There were anti-feminist comments made too.

Giorgi Kardava, Conservative Movement: “… A diverse mass of people gathered there, including LGBT activists and feminists and thousands of people of their ilk. I think, everyone that have been cursed by their mothers were there and that is what we are seeing now rallying outside the parliament building; that is, in fact, those Western liberal forces… pseudo nongovernmental organizations, pseudo human rights watchdogs, LGBT activists, feminists or parrots of those defenders of rights; all those are outside the parliament building today.”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “[They say] they are that ignorant generation, i.e., multicolor generation. He, that representative of multicolor generation, must be a gay. Go, son, use your bottom in a way you like… do with it whatever you like. Saying that they are young and we should leave them alone means condoning all that. None of those going against the state must be forgiven. Those students protesting on 9 April [1989] fought for freedom. Those students did not fight for grants and did not offend anyone.”

Dito Chubinidze, journalist for Asaval-Dasavali: “The Georgian government does not work with the youth. These children, our Georgian youth, have been abandoned to that gay mafia, those Masons and NGO-agents.”

Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgian Dream: “This specific person [Lazare Grigoriadisi] seems to have all the orientations blurred and such people use violence against police officers; that needs to be adequately assessed...”  

Shota Martinenko, Conservative Movement: “Lazare Griogoriadisi, a convict for violence and a member of Khoshtaria’s party, was arrested. That is a guy who had beaten his father. They are sick people. Just see how he looks - an ordinary liberast; that’s what they are… And then, after they staged a gay-pride-type demonstration of agents, they get surprised why we call them gay militarists. What else are they, for god’s sake? Who is he, after all?” 

Some of the xenophobic statements were against the sale of immovable property to foreign citizens. In March, xenophobic comments were made about Great Britain, in which it was emphasized a problematic nature of allowing migrants to hold political offices.

It is unacceptable to sell land parcels to foreign citizens

Vazha Otarashvili, Alliance of Patriots: “In the meanwhile, Georgian land parcels are being sold to foreigners on a massive scale, half of the Saudi Arabia has already resettled to Georgia and let me say it out loud that over half of the territory around Tbilisi is in the hands of foreigners… Nothing of the kind can be seen in the Caucasus, either in Yerevan or in Baku, let alone Turkey.”

Anti-migrant

Ilia Chachibaia, presenter of Obiektivi TV: “We have seen lots of foreigners, we all walk in streets and see that every third is Ukrainian or Russian or Belarussian; in Adjara, almost every second is Turk; and we are all aware that a greater number of Iranian citizens than Georgians are [residing] on Marjanishvili Street [in Tbilisi].”

Giorgi Kardava, Conservative Movement: “Why is it such a strange reality that the Prime Minister of England is an Indian, the Foreign Secretary Affairs Minister is from Sierra Leone, the Mayor of London is a Pakistani? What is going on? Can you, liberals, explain it to me? Whom, representatives of what type of country are we listening to? … I do not have any problems with people, but a representative of the civilization that commits genocide to itself, annihilates its indigenous population and engages in that multicultural madness which, let me say, does not work and the result is a total mess there… One cannot find an Englishman there. How does this happen and how on earth should one listen to them? Why should that country’s representative, who does this in his own country and as a result, his country disappears, lecture anyone else? The majority of London residents are not English.”

Armenophobic statements related to Lazare Griogoriadisi arrested in connection with the protest demonstrations on 7-8 March. Armenophobic statements spread both in traditional media and social networks alleged that Lazare Griogoriadisi had his surname changed. Xenophobic statements made about the arrested activist can be read in the article published by Myth Detector.

Presenting the Armenian identity in the negative context

Much like in previous years, the majority of Turkophobic statements portrayed Turkey as a historical occupier of Georgia and created a false dichotomy between it and the current occupation of Georgia by Russia. It is worth to note that against Islamophobic statements, the emphasis in them were placed on the fact that Georgia and Russia have a shared religion.

Tukey is Georgia’s historical enemy

Davit Lortkipanidze, Zneoba: “Turkey seized one third of Georgia. The genocide of Armenians is a popular topic, but what they [Turks] did [to Georgians] was no less evil, they literally killed and resettled over million people, they resettled very many people, for example, to Bursa, just forced them from their homes. It can be said that Turkey is Georgia’s genetic enemy, because it fights against Georgia since time immemorial; there was not any epoch when that fight did not take place. Even more, today, we have lost Batumi and Adjara to some extent, at least, in economic terms and it is very important.”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “It was [King David] Aghmashenebeli who defeated the army of Turk-seljuks and now the Aghmashenebeli [avenue in Tbilisi] has become a new refuge for Turk-seljuks… Walking along the Aghmashenebeli Avenue, you see that it is not Georgia any longer, but a new territory of Turk-seljuks.”

If Russia is an occupier, Turkey is an occupier too

Davit Tarkhan-Mouravi, Alliance of Patriots: “We do not want confrontation with anyone in our neighborhood, including with Russia. Indeed, we have territorial problems, it seized our territories and it is a serious blow to us, but Turkey has also seized our territories and it is also a serious blow but we turn a blind eye to that, say nothing about it. We want to have economic cooperation with Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia. Has Azerbaijan not seized Davit Gareji?”

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “Georgia and Norway are having a [football] match right now and viewers are chanting ‘Putin Khuilo.’ I wonder why they do not chant the same about, for example, Erdogan, about Turkey. Turkey annexed Georgian territories and skinned Georgians. Those stupid children who are chanting that cannot understand that this chanting may result in the country losing those territories of Abkhazia and Samachablo forever.”

Co-religious Russia vs Turkey

Zaza Davitaia, journalist for Asaval-Dasavali: “[Russia] may one day become a friend [of Georgia], the time may come when Russians and Georgians will fight shoulder-to-shoulder for their national and religious identity. At least, the likelihood of that is higher than the likelihood that Georgians will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with Turks. However, this cannot be ruled out either.”

Targets of discrimination on the ground of religion were Islam and non-dominant religious groups. The latter were portrayed as sects pursuing their political agenda.

Nondominant confessions are sects that pursue their political agenda

Isalmophobia

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “When talking about who should be our friend, one cannot make friends with a country that tries to convert you to Islam, to change your religion, to ruin you if you resist and remain yourself, such a country cannot be your friend. As there cannot be any relation between a wild animal and a man because it will eat, swallow you unless you are distanced from it and have a barrier erected, the same holds for the relation with Turkey.”

Sexist hate speech targeted women who showed their solidarity with the protest demonstrations on 7-8 March.

Attacks based on moral criteria

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “Today, Salome Zourabichvili must be working in Roena’s brothel, not the President’s residence. This woman must be in the brothel because she is a prostitute both by soul and flesh. The woman who, when the coup is underway, the country is on the brink of demise, and Molotov cocktails are being thrown, tells the people, those people who are ruining the country, that she stands with them. This worthless person. The woman who would have never sit in the presidential armchair had it not been for the Georgian Dream that put her there. And look, what is she doing now, this rogue.”

Offence on the ground of mental abilities

Elizbar Javelidze, People’s Assembly: “Electing Salome Zourabichvili as the president was one of the gravest mistakes… This immoral and stupid woman should not have been elected as the president because she is devoid of any Georgian and national trait, she has no spiritual and emotional link with the country!”

Offence on the ground of appearance

Asaval-Dasavali, 20-26 March
Jambul Gamtsemlidze, a citizen: “I hate and abhor all, be it that ugly-as-devil Kelly Degnan or any other who does not intend to benefit my country and sides with murderers and torturers.”

Criticism on the ground of gender stereotypes

Anti-Western message presented the Western funding as supporting homosexual filth and imposing the values that are strange to Georgia. At the same time, a dichotomy was created between the Orthodox Christian Russia that fights against homosexuality and the West that imposes immoral mode of life.

Orthodox Christian Russia defends us against the filth while America/Catholic Church imposes homosexuality

Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, presenter of Sezoni TV: “One has to choose between the path of Sodom and the path of Christ and Church which, whether someone likes it or not, would not have been an alternative today if it had not been Russia, because the only country that stands against all that is Russia which adopted the law against this filth and that LGBT propaganda and Russia is the country that stands against those crooked initiatives of the Catholic Church concerning the same-sex marriage. Had it not been for Russia, the Catholic Church and the Pope who is obedient to America, would have taken that decision.”

Western funding is used for the fight against Church/promotion of homosexuality

Giorgi Razmadze, clergy: “That money, our allies reproachfully remind us of having given us, is used for those imps who run and teach pedophilia, homosexuality, immoral life, and fight against Georgian spirituality. That’s why they have started the fiercest fight against the Georgian Church today.”

The modern West is engaged in LGBTQI propaganda

Irakli Martinenko, Conservative Movement: “The West was not of this kind in the past; there also were people in the past who were capable of fighting, there were ordinary families and ordinary people respecting traditions, but this is so convenient, the [LGBTQI] propaganda is so powerful that it has gone too far even in Georgia.”

Valeri Kvaratskhelia, author: “The political phenomenon of the West has already been dishonored in the Georgian public awareness. Let me emphasize – the political phenomenon; as regards the Western (European) culture – science, arts, literature, philosophy – this is a different phenomenon and a different world that, unfortunately, underwent a strange transformation in the 20th century politics and gave birth to fascism, while in the 21st century, it, on the one hand, made the protection of human rights as the end in itself and plunged into the  abyss of Sodomy and filth, while on the other hand, gave rise to a new wave of neofascism.”

Davit Zirakishvili, League for the Protection of Article 5 of the Constitution: “America has actually poisoned our youth by free drugs, unbridled sexual activity, LGBT propaganda; we have just seen that detainee who has been arrested for setting the police officers on fire. Look at that person, he is pure Satanist.”