THE LGBTQ ISSUE AS A SUPPLEMENTARY TOOL FOR POLARIZATION IN POST-SOVIET COUNTRIES – THE CASE OF GEORGIA

Abstract

At present, when pandemic enters a new phase, the geopolitical confrontation between the adherents of unipolar and multipolar international security systems takes its new impetus. Besides the pandemic restrictions used widely as a tool of political pressure, the LGBTQ issue recently gained new importance. LGBTQ activists that announced pride in the Georgian capital have not taken to the main avenue of Tbilisi out of fears of violence. Instead, anti-LGBTQ groups' representatives used physical violence against media representatives because of their perceived pro-LGBTQ/Western stance. As it is known LGBTQ issue has become quite divisive not only in Georgia but in EU member countries. The present paper discusses developments in Georgia and the post-Soviet area as an example of a small proxy state of the former Soviet Union as an arena of struggle between the West and East on values shared by the most Western democracies.