manana_kobakhidze

Manana Kobakhidze. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The deputy speaker of the Georgian parliament, Manana Kobakhidze, is criticized for recent remarks about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

“Even if we are left all alone on earth, if every one of our friends or partners abandons us, I will not change my mind in saying that legalizing same-sex marriage is a huge mistake,” Kobakhidze wrote on her Facebook page.

This is a mistake by the government, the state and the legislation, she continued. After the Supreme Court ruling, people shared rainbow flags and congratulated the U.S. and its citizens. Kobakhidze wrote that she doesn’t feel this excitement is right.

“What can I do if I cannot join this ‘happiness’,” she continues, predicting that she might be criticized for her opinion, but adding that freedom of expression is her right as a public person.

“It’s your choice. You can criticize me, however you cannot blame me of hatred, intolerance, discrimination and being pro-Russian.”

Later, a comment by the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II was posted on her Facebook page. The quote by probably the most influential and trusted person in Georgia said the same as Kobakhidze, that the U.S. has made a ‘huge mistake.’

The patriarch also said that Georgia should be able to see where there is good and where there is evil, what is acceptable and what is not.

“You won’t be alone, Mrs Manana. Russia will be with us, Iran will be there. The government thinks the same way there,” one Facebook user wrote in a post addressed to Manana Kobakhidze.

Another user recalled that Kobakhidze used to be a human rights activist before going into politics.

“Aren’t minorities people to? If yes, then why they won’t we have the right to create a family, but are being discriminated [against]? How can a human rights activist be a supporter of discrimination?”

Just a day before, the U.S. Department of State published a long report on human rights in Georgia, where one of the chapters describes violations of the rights of sexual minorities in Georgia.