Angry mob disrupts gay rights rally in Georgia

[Enrique]

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66981

A raging mob in Tbilisi chased away a downtown rally designed to commemorate the May 17 International Day against Homophobia. “Kill them! Tear them to pieces!” yelled the agitated crowd as police struggled to evacuate a handful of gay-rights supporters from the Georgian capital's central Freedom Square.

It was a scene of medieval mob violence, as thousands of Georgians -- mostly young men, but also robed priests and women in headscarves -- stormed through a police cordon and went pursuing the activists. “Where are they? Don’t let them leave alive!” screamed frenzied men, as they took over the square, outnumbering and overpowering police troops.

Police barely managed to herd some of the LGBT activists into municipal buses, before angry protesters surrounded the vehicles. The crowd hit, threw stones and followed the buses as they pushed their way out of the square.

The pursuit continued on the side streets. Just outside the square, a mob tried to storm a house, where several gay rights activists had sought refuge. “Drag them out, stomp them to death,” screamed one woman as she tried to push her way through a group of policemen, who wrestled with the mob at the entrance of the house.

Youngsters swore, beat and threw various objects at police officers, who eventually pulled the activists into a car. A stampede occurred as the mob tried to chase the car down the narrow street, with some falling into ditches.

At the different corner of the downtown, several activists sought asylum in a grocery store and police managed to fight off the mob that tried to break into the shop.

Very few civilians dared to speak against the violence. “Look at yourselves! You call yourselves Christians?” objected one elderly woman in tears, speaking from a balcony. “Go ahead, kill everyone you are told to hate in the name of God and national values.”

[WCGreen]

1. You know when I first clicked on this thread, I didn't realize they were

speaking of the other Georgia, you know, the Deliverance Georgia.

[msongs]

2. slavic culture is extremely homophobic yet we let them immigrate to the US nt

[Enrique]

3. Georgians aren't Slavs

you might change it to not letting Eastern Orthodox folks to immigrate here, but we did, we might miss out on getting people like this old lady:

“Look at yourselves! You call yourselves Christians?” objected one elderly woman in tears, speaking from a balcony. “Go ahead, kill everyone you are told to hate in the name of God and national values.”

[datasuspect]

4. your post just made my head spin

while decrying homophobia, you just engaged in anti-slavic bigotry.

time to take a break again.

oy!

[stevenleser]

5. Some here suggest we cannot object to bigotry outside of the US and Western Europe

Otherwise we are being imperialist and neocolonialist

[Enrique]

6. some people do it in a chauvinistic way

a disdain for "those people".