Georgians’ sexual prowess in general was attributed to their southern temperament, but their supposed openness to relationships with people of either sex probably goes back to the 19th century. Ideas about the “prevalence” of homosexuality in the Caucasus remained in the popular subconscious, reinforced by the image of the kinto, which entered Soviet popular culture with Khanuma (1926) and other films about Georgia.
Popular jokes paint the Georgian man very much like a kinto: a sly, sneaky bon vivant who is always up for flirting. Except that he rarely trades: after all, kintos disappeared from the streets of Tbilisi precisely because the Soviet authorities considered them crooks and, like all private businessmen, detrimental to socialist society.
Kintos disappeared, jokes about Georgians gradually lost popularity, and Georgian gays, along with their country, entered a new era of independence.
A recent history of homosexuality
Georgia’s recent history of homosexuality begins in the 21st century. In 2000, the country repealed its article against sodomy and, 12 years later, even introduced a ban on discrimination against LGBT people — a rarity in the post-Soviet space.
In independent Georgia, gay men no longer faced imprisonment, and like lesbians, they began actively seeking partners on the streets, in bars, and, when the option became available, online. In 2008, Georgia fully legalized gender transition. LGBTQ+ bars opened, occasional queer films began to be released, and LGBTQ+ community organizations, such as Inclusive Foundation, emerged.
Cyberspace became a lifesaver for many queer people. They no longer had to look for kindred spirits at cruising locations or gather at the monument to Parajanov in Tbilisi. First, there were themed forums, then groups and chat rooms on social media. For a while, the Inclusive Foundation ran dedicated websites gay.ge and lesbi.ge, complementing a wide range of online resources that still exist.
At the same time, as Shorena Gabunia noted, in the 2000s many Georgian gays preferred to look for partners on Russia’s Rambler search portal, which had quite a few Georgians in the dating section who were ready to talk on Skype. Meanwhile, those who had seen the heyday of cruising complained that finding a partner in the street had become much more difficult.
While Georgia’s queer community was exploring its newfound freedom, the country divided into two political camps when it came to LGBTQ+ issues. The first camp favors rapprochement with the EU, which implies, among other things, queer empowerment. The second has chosen a conservative path centered on Orthodox Christian values and friendship with Moscow. Unsurprisingly, the second course leaves no place for LGBTQ+ rights.
The Georgian Orthodox Church has gained great influence since the country obtained independence. Yet in effect, it has actually maintained the tradition of Soviet puritanism, adding an element of national identity, which many Georgians do in fact hold dear. For centuries, the church has condemned homosexuality, even if it had no power to enforce secular punishments. As a result, many modern-day believers also see homosexuality not only as a sin but as a foreign — Western — vice.
In the public space, such sentiments surfaced on the eve of the 2003 election, when some conservatives went so far as to call for drowning homosexuals. Their presence intensified in the early 2010s with the coming to power of the Georgian Dream party, founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire Russian businessman of Georgian origin.