Exploring Homophobia in Tbilisi, Georgia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine statistical predictors of homophobic attitudes among the residents of Tbilisi, Georgia. We analyze 2013 survey data from a representative sample of the Tbilisi adult population. Residents were asked about their attitudes, beliefs, and political and social values in the context of the May 17, 2013 attack on LGBT activists on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). Findings show that homophobia is significantly predicted by male gender, lower levels of education, acceptance of social inequality, nonliberal attitudes, and perceiving homosexuals as a "threat to national security." However, psychological perceptions and personal experiences also indirectly influence homophobic attitudes: the findings suggest that males report homophobic attitudes more often than females do and tend to be even more homophobic when they believe that homosexuality is inborn rather than acquired. The study also found that people without liberal attitudes tend to be more homophobic when they have personal contacts with homosexuals. This article highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach to education and the promotion of liberal values as well as legal equality for LGBTQ individuals to decrease the level of homophobia in Georgian society and, specifically, in Tbilisi.

Discriminatory attitudes relationship to attachment styles, selfconstrual and sociodemographic variables in university students

“…The findings about male students' higher discriminatory tendencies toward homosexuals and women is similar to the previous research findings. Homophobia (Mestvirishvili, Zurabishvili, Iakobidze & Mestvirishvili, 2016) is observed more common in males than in females. The social dominance tendency, which perceives that the cultural groups they belong to are superior, appears to be higher in men than in women (Sidanius, Pratto & Bobo, 1994).…”

Prevalence and Psychosocial Predictors of Homophobic Victimization among Adolescents

“…The homophobic victimization that we have described in this study, suffered by adolescents regardless of their sexual orientation, could be correlated to the homophobia-driven discrimination [4,44,45], and with punishment from peers towards those who do not meet the established gender-based norms [10]. In this study it was found that—(a) adolescents with doubts about their sexual orientation suffered more frequent, indirect verbal homophobic victimization than heterosexuals; and (b) homosexuals or bisexuals suffered more frequently, both direct and indirect verbal homophobic victimization, than heterosexuals.…”

“…The prevention of homophobic victimization in adolescence must consider an education to eradicate sexist stereotypes and heteronormative genders. These stereotypes create social barriers for the inclusion of adolescents who do not follow the default heteronormativity in the peer group [10,45] and, to a large extent, they are the origin of discriminatory prejudices and behaviors [4,44,75]. Educational measures are needed to standardize the image of adolescents with doubts about their sexual orientation, homosexuals, or bisexuals, among their peers, so that they are not perceived as unequal and, therefore, of a lower status.…”

“…Homophobic victimization emerges by means of the bullies’ attacks on the LGBT people—lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender—and to the people that, despite not being included in this group, are considered as individuals out of the heteronormativity of the group [42,43]. Homophobia is a set of negative ideas about the attitudes out of the heterosexuality schemes that foster discriminatory behaviors [4,44,45]. It has been observed that female and male adolescents admit it as a fact that not following the fixed gender-based norms implies punishment by classmates and even by adult authority figures [10].…”

A New Political Scarecrow? The Political Program and Activity of the ”Serbian Right“

“…Once again, in striking similarity to the contemporary Western left, the SD claims it stands for "social justice" (point 27), yet it clearly approaches homosexuality in a manner patently similar to Russia, that is, proposing the ban on "organizations promoting homosexuality"; homosexuals are referred to as "sodomites". Yet again, this is nothing innovative for the right wing, as homophobia is often a key point in various right-wing ideologies throughout the globe (Mestvirishvili, Zurabishvili, Iakobidze, & Mestvirishvili, 2017;Moss, 2014;Reygan & Moane, 2014), and fairly common to Serbia per se (Mršević, 2013;Stakic, 2011).…”