Summary

While officially a secular nation, church and state are far from separate in Georgia, where homophobia is common. The Christian Orthodox Church holds great power including among government officials, resulting in homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination throughout the country, hate crimes and murders, and state-ordered threats against LGBTQI+ individuals and activists. At the same time, the feminist and LGBTQI+ movements in Georgia are growing stronger and more organized. In “Living Out Loud,” we meet Eka Aghdgomelashvili, a Georgian feminist activist and trailblazer who led successful efforts to pass anti-discrimination laws in this former Soviet state. We also meet a young artist, Eka Tkemeladze, and fellow community activists who are mobilizing in the tense days leading up to the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) rally.