Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has passed a law curbing LGBTQ+ rights, banning public LGBTQ+ activities and censoring films and books. As the country prepares for elections on 26 October, Georgian Dream is threatening to outlaw all opposition parties if it wins. Founded in 2012 by the pro-Kremlin oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, Dream has flip-flopped between Brussels and Moscow since it won the 2020 election on a promise to apply for EU membership. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dragged Georgia’s parliament eastward, partly because of the country’s reliance on Russian trade. Once a clear favourite to win in October, Dream has slipped in polls since passing a wildly unpopular ‘foreign agents’ law similar to one in force in Russia. The law was met by violent street protests, US sanctions and the EU freezing its membership application.
