The LGBT rights film sparking demonstrations in Georgia
Georgian LGBTQ campaigner Giorgi Tabagari says the film is helping change the perception of queer Georgia as lower than criminals and drug addicts. (Image Courtesy: BBC News).
Levan Akin’s Swedish-Georgian production, And Then We Danced (2019), is Georgia’s first feature about gay love, provoking a crowd of five hundred men to force their way through a line of police in riot gear and into the Tbilisi premiere, according to BBC News. Discrimination against sexual orientation is illegal, but homophobic violence is still prevalent in Georgia’s right-wing culture, forcing many members of the LGBT community to lead double lives. The Georgian Orthodox Church, while condemning the protests, says the film is part of an agenda to normalize “the sin” of homosexuality; this comes after a bishop accused senior clergy of gay sex on live television.
I am an award-winning journalist, memoirist, and personal essayist in Denver, Colorado. I hold a Master of Arts in Professional Creative Writing with a concentration in Nonfiction from the University of Denver, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Communication from Colorado State University Fort Collins, with a concentration in Publications Writing, Editing, and Production, and an interdisciplinary minor in Film Studies. I am passionate about inspiring positive change and meaningful action through the power of the literary arts.
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