An essential aspect of the work undertaken by the Women's Initiatives Support Group, as a feminist organization, is supporting individual and collective empowerment of people oppressed or abused on the basis of gender and sexuality. This commitment extends to the analysis, research, and articulation of the misogynistic and homophobic systems and logic of oppression.
Although our organization has never operated under peaceful conditions in this context, in previous years, we concluded the year by summarizing our annual activities, including the services provided, publications issued, research conducted, and events and trainings held, including those for employees of various state and public agencies.
Instead of summarizing our traditional areas of activity this year, we take a moment to reflect on the numerous ways in which the authoritarian and violent regime of the Georgian Dream attempted to criminalize not only our work but also our very existence. We recount the challenges we faced, the oppressive measures employed against us, and the strategies of resistance and resilience we employed to continue our mission despite these adversities.
After the adoption of the so-called "Foreign Influence Transparency Law," a measure explicitly designed to demonize civil society, initiative groups, and protest movements critical of the government, we joined hundreds of organizations in refusing to register in the so-called Agents Register. This law represented a direct attack on the independence and credibility of civil society, threatening the very foundation of democratic activism. To challenge its unconstitutionality, we took a multifaceted approach, utilizing all available mechanisms at the national level by filing a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court. Simultaneously, we prepared a case for submission to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, reaffirming our commitment to protecting fundamental rights and freedoms at both the national and international levels.
Nevertheless, the "Agents' Law" introduced significant stress and necessitated forced changes in our work. One of the organization's core activities—providing services through a unique multi-team approach to support beneficiaries—was disrupted as a direct consequence of this law. This disruption further marginalized LGBT individuals, who were already underserved by state institutions, making it even more challenging for them to access essential services from us and other community organizations.
In parallel with these challenges, we spent the year enduring and witnessing an alarming rise in fascist rhetoric, which has increasingly become a central theme in the election campaign. This included dangerous promises to ban so-called LGBT propaganda, a narrative designed to further marginalize and stigmatize our community. Throughout this period, we were inundated with an unrelenting wave of homophobic and transphobic hatred, emanating not only from public speeches delivered by key government figures but also from state-aligned propaganda media channels. These efforts aimed to foster hostility, suppress dissent, and create an atmosphere of fear and division, further compounding the challenges faced by LGBTQI+ individuals and organizations striving for equality and justice.
By producing and manipulating ultra-right populist rhetoric, just before the elections, the Georgian Dream party adopted an unprecedentedly regressive, fascist, anti-democratic, and anti-LGBT law. The primary objective of this law was clear: to incite and institutionalize homophobia and transphobia, thereby promoting violence and oppression against LGBT individuals at a state and systemic level. More broadly, it sought to neutralize any form of criticism against the government by falsely accusing opposition voices of engaging in "LGBT propaganda." This law is a direct attack on the rights and dignity of LGBT people, aimed at consolidating power while silencing dissent and reinforcing state-sponsored discrimination.
As a result of the adoption of this law and the hatred and violent environment created by the ruling team, many of our dear community members have been forced to leave the country. Those of us who have remained must now live, work, and fight with special caution, constantly facing the risks and challenges posed by this oppressive climate.
Our activities as a community organization have become increasingly complicated and, in effect, criminalized. It is impossible to predict the extent to which this law will be enforced if the Georgian Dream remains in power. The fascist anti-LGBT law, along with several other laws passed this year, with its absurd, anti-constitutional, anti-scientific, and deliberately vague content, serves as nothing more than another tool in the government's repressive arsenal, intended to suppress widespread public protest and further marginalize vulnerable communities.
Georgian society has responded to this blatant attempt to dismantle democracy and entrench authoritarianism with remarkable strength and resilience throughout the year. It has countered the corruption, hatred, violence, and repression of oligarchic rule with the power of genuine democratic engagement, creativity, mutual care, and solidarity. The strength and breadth of this movement is evident in the diversity and interconnectedness of the public groups and forms of protest, which continue to strengthen and amplify this wave of popular resistance.
Throughout the year, despite the organizational challenges imposed by unjust laws, we have remained deeply engaged in the ongoing wave of protests. This movement has shown that the struggle for democracy in the country has transitioned from being confined to institutional settings to taking place in the streets, where the collective power of the people has been undeniably present. However, contrary to the unrest, division, and violent confrontation that the oligarch and his supporters had hoped to provoke, this process has instead fostered a profound sense of mutual support and solidarity. It has brought us an invaluable experience of listening to one another's struggles, standing united in our fight for justice, caring for each other, and strengthening our collective resilience as we move forward together.
In 2024, the Georgian Dream spent millions on a campaign aimed at sowing distrust, hatred, and division between different groups within society. However, by the end of the year, this effort backfired, as it resulted in these very groups standing side by side, united in their opposition to the oligarch's violent, repressive, kleptocratic, and anti-democratic policies. Instead of creating division, the campaign ultimately strengthened the resolve of diverse communities to resist and challenge the government’s oppressive agenda.
Therefore, we firmly believe that 2025 will mark the continued expansion and strengthening of this unstoppable process of social integration in our country. The momentum gained over the past year has set the stage for deeper unity and collective action, and we are confident that this movement will only grow stronger as it continues to challenge oppressive forces and work toward a more just and democratic future.
Therefore, on the night of December 31, we celebrate the arrival of the New Year in a place where, throughout the year, we have been violently deprived of justice, freedom, and equality. We stand together in public protest and, simultaneously, in celebration, continuing to demand freedom—for all prisoners of the Georgian Dream regime, justice—in the form of new elections, and equality—for all, including those persecuted by the system and its fascist laws based on gender and sexual orientation. Our commitment to these demands remains unwavering as we look toward a year of resistance, solidarity, and change.
