The Hate Review

Key indicators in 2025: Contamination 4.00 / 4  ·  Impact 4.00 / 4

Anti-gender mobilisation in Georgia has been driven by a distinctive combination of the Georgian Orthodox Church, far-right movements with documented Russian links, and ultimately the ruling Georgian Dream party, which progressively absorbed and institutionalised the anti-gender agenda as a central electoral and ideological pillar. The movement evolved from Church-led moral condemnation and organised street violence against LGBTIQ+ public events through the 2010s, to full state capture of the anti-gender agenda by 2024. Georgia adopted that year one of the most sweeping “anti-LGBT propaganda” laws in Europe, banning any “popularisation” of same-sex relationships or non-heterosexual gender identity in schools, media, public gatherings and workplaces. Civil society organisations working on gender equality and the rights of LGBTIQ+ people now operate under direct criminal exposure, with leading organisations’ bank accounts frozen and independent civic space rapidly shrinking.