A day after the Georgian government passed legislation imposing sweeping curbs on LGBTQ+ rights in the country, a well-known transgender model was murdered on Wednesday, The Guardian reported officials as saying.
According to Georgia’s interior ministry, Kesaria Abramidze, 37, was stabbed to death in her apartment in suburban Tbilisi, adding that a man had been arrested in connection with the crime.
Considered one of the country’s first openly trans public figures, her death took place following legislation on ‘family values and the protection of minors’, added the report. This new controversial legislation will allow officials to outlaw Pride events and censor films and books.
Same-sex marriage ban law:
Earlier on Tuesday, the Georgian parliament approved the law in its third and final reading and included bans on same-sex marriages and gender-affirming treatments.
With the law, it is expected that there would be clash between Georgia and the European Union as the European country is mulling to join the union.
As per the critics, the controversial law passed by the parliament was initially introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party and aligns with laws enacted in Russia, where authorities in the past decade implemented a series of repressive anti-LGBTQ+ measures.
Though the reasons behind the murder of Abramidze are yet to be figured out, Georgian civil societies have started raising their voices against it, connecting it with state campaigns against minorities in the country.
Voices in favour and against LGBTQ+ law:
In 2023, hundreds of opponents of gay rights stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in Tbilisi and forced the event to be cancelled. This year too, around 10,000 people marched in the capital aiming to promote ‘traditional family values’ at an event attended by the ruling party.
Meanwhile, an EU diplomat Josep Borrell on Wednesday appealed the Georgian government to withdraw the “family values” law. He even warned that the law may harm Georgia’s chances of joining the EU bloc.
Apart from him, Social Democratic party chair of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee in Germany – Michael Roth – echoed Borrell’s call.
He took to X and wrote: “Those who sow hatred will reap violence. Kesaria Abramidze was killed just one day after the Georgian parliament passed the anti-LGBTI law.”
The Social Justice Center, a Tbilisi-based human rights group, released a statement while reacting to the murder of Kesaria Abramidze. It said, as quoted by The Gaurdian, “There is a direct correlation between the use of hate speech in politics and hate crimes.”
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