a year ago
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Posted On: August 20th 2025, 11:41 am
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Reflecting on my month in Georgia earlier this year.
The ongoing global decay of “rights and protections” brought me to Tbilisi, to engage with expressions of resistance by people and communities who’ve long faced constant governmental suppression, stumbling through the lines of fascism disguised as democracy, and to witness and participate in the art that emerges from these nuanced complexities. For nearly 300 days, and defiantly more, Georgians have come together to protest, no longer able to tolerate the system. And LGBTQ+ Georgians, while protesting against these layered forms of oppression, are also fighting for their right to simply exist in their own country. With the support of a friend, I connected with LGBTQ+ artists and organizers, and allies, and observed their communal resilience and individual resistance.
@niagvatua mother of Tbilisi’s drag scene and to many, protector, creator (and so much more)
@lucr3z1a_ performance artist, photographer, illustrator, and trans woman who’s had to recently flee Georgia (gofundme in links)
@utabekaia another mother to many, multimedia artist reimagining and queering ancestral rituals
@yamadatesla multidisciplinary artist working with digital and physical mediums
@apakidzedavid visual artist queering icons and symbols of Orthodox Christianity
@khorbaladzedavit theater director, playwright and composer
@god__era an artist redefining fashion
@giorgimiminoshvilli multidisciplinary artist interrogating everyday life
@giorgi_kikonishvili_ activist,club organizer creating moments for people to remove their societal masks
…and several more.
To be out is to be a target, leading many to flee. By solely existing they are actively resisting these invisible lines that dictate who and what is accepted and welcomed, and who and what is not. Why is “being” not embraced, not enough? Out of this question comes an urgency to claim a multidimensional identity, “Georgian and…,” to create art and spaces to express self, form connections and piece together a chosen family, to not be alone in this world. A universal urgency that many know, especially those who’ve been deprived of elusive rights and protections.
To exist is enough.
The ongoing global decay of “rights and protections” brought me to Tbilisi, to engage with expressions of resistance by people and communities who’ve long faced constant governmental suppression, stumbling through the lines of fascism disguised as democracy, and to witness and participate in the art that emerges from these nuanced complexities. For nearly 300 days, and defiantly more, Georgians have come together to protest, no longer able to tolerate the system. And LGBTQ+ Georgians, while protesting against these layered forms of oppression, are also fighting for their right to simply exist in their own country. With the support of a friend, I connected with LGBTQ+ artists and organizers, and allies, and observed their communal resilience and individual resistance.
@niagvatua mother of Tbilisi’s drag scene and to many, protector, creator (and so much more)
@lucr3z1a_ performance artist, photographer, illustrator, and trans woman who’s had to recently flee Georgia (gofundme in links)
@utabekaia another mother to many, multimedia artist reimagining and queering ancestral rituals
@yamadatesla multidisciplinary artist working with digital and physical mediums
@apakidzedavid visual artist queering icons and symbols of Orthodox Christianity
@khorbaladzedavit theater director, playwright and composer
@god__era an artist redefining fashion
@giorgimiminoshvilli multidisciplinary artist interrogating everyday life
@giorgi_kikonishvili_ activist,club organizer creating moments for people to remove their societal masks
…and several more.
To be out is to be a target, leading many to flee. By solely existing they are actively resisting these invisible lines that dictate who and what is accepted and welcomed, and who and what is not. Why is “being” not embraced, not enough? Out of this question comes an urgency to claim a multidimensional identity, “Georgian and…,” to create art and spaces to express self, form connections and piece together a chosen family, to not be alone in this world. A universal urgency that many know, especially those who’ve been deprived of elusive rights and protections.
To exist is enough.
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