Georgian Orthodox Church Leader Calls For Gay-Rights Rally Ban

admin | 17 May 2013

May 16, 2013

The head of Georgia’s influential Orthodox Church has called on authorities to ban a gay-rights rally set to be held in the capital, Tbilisi.

In a statement, Georgian Patriarch Ilia II described homosexuality as an “anomaly and disease” and said the gay-pride rally scheduled for May 17 would be “an insult” to Georgian tradition.

Gay-rights defenders plan a rally to mark the International Day Against Homophobia.

Ultraconservative Orthodox believers have said they will hold a counterdemonstration and have threatened to disrupt the gay rally.

The Tbilisi Mayor’s Office said that no permission is required from the authorities for holding a rally, which is a constitutional right.

The mayor’s office added that the Interior Ministry has been ordered to protect gay activists during the demonstration.

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili on May 15 said that sexual minorities “have the same rights as any other social groups.”

Source: RFERL

Since you are here…

…we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong.

Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable.

For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir.

If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life's purpose, family and society.