Thousands of people protesting in Tbilisi against lesbian/gay action

More than 10,000 people living in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and the areas adjoining pooled forces in a street action Friday afternoon that stretched all along the city’s main thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue. They protested against the plans of activists of the gay and lesbian community to organize an LGBT pride march. Hundreds of policemen were dispatched to Rustaveli Avenue to supervise law and order there. The scope of protesters included a group of Eastern Orthodox clergymen, representatives of a number of nongovernmental organizations, and a group of former political prisoners. They carried the slogans like ‘Homosexuality Is a Spiritual and Psychic Abnormity’, ‘Say No To Spiritual Genocide’, and ‘We’re Fighting A Sin Not With People’. The protesters demanded that the government impose a legislative ban on the propaganda of sexual minorities and said they would not permit members of the LBGT movement to hold their action. Supporters of the gay and lesbian rights planned holding an action of their own on the square in front of the former parliament building but they were unable to get to the site as the square authorized for their action had already been occupied by their adversaries.