Transgender model murdered in Tbilisi following anti-LGBT law

In Tbilisi, Georgia, a tragic event unfolded. Transgender model, actress, and influencer Kesaria Abramidze was brutally murdered, according to the Daily Mail. The 37-year-old was fatally stabbed shortly after the Georgian parliament passed an anti-LGBT law.

Abramidze gained attention in 2014 when she underwent gender confirmation surgery. The actress was attacked in her home in Tbilisi, sustaining over 50 stab wounds. Late last night, her blood-covered body was found by neighbors. The 26-year-old suspect, Beka Jaiani, who reportedly knew the victim, was detained at the airport as he tried to flee the country.

Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili, an opponent of the new law, expressed her outrage: "A terrible murder! A denial of humanity! Only this might sober up our society… Hopefully, the killing of this beautiful young woman will at least serve to make us more humane and Christian."

Abramidze had over half a million followers on social media and represented Georgia during the Miss Trans Star International competition in 2018. Her death marks the third high-profile murder of a transgender woman in Georgia in recent years.

According to the Daily Mail, the new law that Georgia adopted concurrently with Russia bans same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, and state support in the gender confirmation process. The President of Georgia vetoed the law.

The British Embassy in Tbilisi commented on the new law, saying: "The United Kingdom is seriously concerned by the adoption, in the third reading, of the legislative package on family values and protection of minors. This package undermines fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and risks further stigmatization and discrimination of part of the Georgian population."

The Social Justice Center (SJC), quoted by the Daily Mail, stated in their release: "There is a direct correlation between the use of hate speech in politics and hate crimes. It has been almost a year that the Georgian Dream government has been aggressively using homo/bi/transphobic language and cultivating it with mass propaganda means. It is certain that the policy of hate has serious consequences – harassment of LGBTI people, their marginalization and violence against them. The case of the murder of Kesaria Abramidze cannot be perceived without this general context."