A mob storms the Tbilisi Satisfaction Fest web site, forcing them to cancel the occasion

Tbilisi, Georgia — Lots of of opponents of homosexual rights on Saturday packed the location of a homosexual competition in Georgia’s nation’s capital, vandalizing the stage, setting fires and looting the occasion’s bar.

Georgian Deputy Inside Minister Alexander Darakhvilidze stated the individuals of the Tbilisi Satisfaction Pageant had been safely evacuated from the scene. Pageant organizers referred to as on individuals to not come to Lake Park the place the occasion was scheduled to happen.

Georgian media estimated that about 5,000 individuals marched in direction of the location. A lot of them waved Georgian flags and carried non secular icons.

Hostility to sexual minorities is robust in Georgia, which is majority Orthodox Christian, and a few previous LGBT occasions have confronted violent unrest.

Darakhvelidze stated that the police tried to dam the protesters however couldn’t maintain all of them again.

However occasion organizers criticized the police as ineffective, saying in an announcement: “The police didn’t block entry to the competition web site so as to forestall an aggressive group. The police didn’t use relative drive towards the attackers.”