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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.
Acknowledgments
We would like to specifically thank Helge Blakkisrud, Head of the Department of Russian and Eurasian Studies at NUPI, who provided insights and expertise that greatly assisted the research.
We also would like to thank George Berulava, professor at Paata Gugushvili Institute of Economics of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, for assistance with statistical analysis and for his comments on earlier drafts that helped greatly improve the article.
Funding
This research was supported by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
Notes
1. Caucasus Barometer provide comparative data on dynamics of public opinion in the South Caucasus countries for the period between 2008 and 2013: http://www.caucasusbarometer.org/en/cb2013ge/IMPISS1/
11. For comprehensive information about the variables used, see .
12. For more information about CRRC-Georgia, visit http://crrc.ge/
13. In most of the CRRC datasets, the data are weighted, and, as a result, female versus male response rates are quite similar.
14. The latter group comprises 22 respondents who reported “incomplete higher education,” most probably current students.
15. Options “Do not know” and “Refuse to answer” (total of 16 cases) were coded as missing values.
17. Results of this variable are not shown.
23. http://humanrights.ge/admin/editor/uploads/pdf/angarishebi/hridc/ANNUAL%20REPORT%202016%20-ENG.pdf
25. https://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Georgia/GEO-CbC-V-2016-002-ENG.pdf
39. Through the rest of the article, for the sake of simplicity, this group is referred to as a group of respondents with secondary education (there were only 11 respondents, 9.5% of the group, with lower than secondary education).