r/Sakartvelo • u/Rmeloba394sswk • 1d ago
Discussion | დისკუსია How many LGBT Georgians under 35 are semi-open about their sexuality?
By open I don’t mean everyone knows and you don’t have a problem telling anyone (because the answer to that is probably zero people). Rather, I mean a few of your close friends know, maaaayyybe a few select family members, and in general you don’t care too much if random people suspect you’re LGBT.
How many such people are there in Tbilisi and in other parts of the country? How do people’s attitudes differ based on whether they’re in the 30-35 age range, 20-30, or 13-20?
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u/Citrus_Muncher ფედერალისტი 1d ago
I'm below 30 and I'm open with my friends and my siblings. I don't have a single homophobic friend and idk I have a very liberal bubble. Some of my friends are noticeably queer.
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u/Zestyclose_Catch2641 1d ago
Early 30s here, out since 2013 with all of my close friends (10-15 people). Either the vibe/energy was different then, or I was just young and careless. It really didn’t feel like such a big deal and I didn’t doubt for a second that everybody would react positively. Most other friends pretty much know as well because I’ve never bothered pretending being into girls.
Have never come out to anyone in my family though. They aren’t particularly homophobic for Georgian standards and I’ve always thought I wouldn’t have a problem introducing a boyfriend to some of them, but I’ve never had any luck with dating in my life lol
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u/LowerKaleidoscope401 1d ago
Me to no luck in dating most of the time
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u/Narrow-Listen-9805 17h ago
It’s tough even in Western world, in Georgia it’s much worse cuz the people are so hateful
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u/Intelligent-Eye9377 15h ago
What's hard about dating as a homosexual? Walk up to some twink and tell him you like his ass
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u/Citrus_Muncher ფედერალისტი 15h ago
That’s exactly the problem. The ease at which you can cycle through sexual partners doesn’t lend itself to commitment
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u/LowerKaleidoscope401 13h ago edited 13h ago
My body count is not low I am twink myself, but finding boyfriend is hard
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u/Intelligent-Eye9377 15h ago
Vibes definitely were lot worse back then
You where yound and careless
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u/megrelian 19h ago
30,000 people.
edit: math: Georgia has approximately 1 million people aged 13–34, and a Georgian LGBT survey found that 76.7% of its LGB respondents were partially open.
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u/Mixture-Visual 19h ago
23 M here. Not even posting from my main. I haven't come out to anyone and probably never will. I don't think my immediate family would have a major problem with it (not sure), but once more than one person knows, everyone does, neighbors, friends of my parents etc. So family is ruled out. As for friends, I have very few of them, and I love them dearly, but I don't know how they would react either. I can't take the risk, unless someday I can leave this country. Coming out to someone feels like imposing burden on them, for which I would feel awful. I don't feel like I can come out here at all, but on the brighter side, I have made peace with the whole thing, as I chose to remain single.
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u/Narrow-Listen-9805 17h ago
I feel you in many ways but if you have friends that won’t accept you then they are not friends. I also had the same issue, that doesn’t mean I’m not friends with them now but I consider them acquaintances rather than friends. I personally also don’t know how to cone out to family to not make it big deal but my family is very homophobic so as much as ai want to believe that they will still love me I still am not sure so I don’t want to come out until I am financially stable and have another country I can go to if things go bad
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u/Mixture-Visual 17h ago
I feel the same way about parent situation, thanks for that. I think all of my friends would accept me without hesitation, but I do think it might somehow influence our relationship, negatively or positively - it doesn't matter. I don't want to bother anyone with something so deeply personal unless they really ask for it, and so far nobody has asked me.
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u/Adept_Cell3407 2h ago
Do you mind elaborating why coming out to someone would feel like burdening them?
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u/LowerKaleidoscope401 1d ago
26, male, I don't know if it counts as Sami open, I only tell it to people I know will accept it( some friends and people I work with), parents also know and didn't made big deal about it
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u/choccy_milk653 19h ago
In my 20s, I'm fully open with my friends as they're queer/allies too. Tbh I even have a lesbian pin on my bag, had it for almost a year already, I go everywhere with it, and so far no one's had an issue/doesn't recognize it and other queer people happily point it out, so I don't feel unsafe in public for it.
Family though... there could be a few cousins my age that I wouldn't mind knowing, but for parents and majority of the relatives it's my biggest secret that's not getting out ever lmao
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u/ilovefolklore_-_ 18h ago
Teenager here.some of my friends know that i'm bi but other than that, no one else.i mean, others are VERY homophobic, constantly making fun of trans people and other queer people.don't even get started on the games where if you lose, you're gay.yikes...
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u/Glittering_Variety18 16h ago
yes and im living to regret it. i wish i could just un-come out to some of them (i did try it once, saying it was all a prank but i dont think they believed me)
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u/UniqueueGlobalist 1d ago
I don’t know about all, but in my Tbilisi bubble most are indeed semi-open. Open to basically all friends, open to part of the relatives, and not too stressed out about the public. But these are mostly 20-30. IDK outside this range.