Transgender model Kesaria Abramidze murdered after Georgia passes ‘anti-LGBTQ+’ law

The woman was stabbed to death in a “premeditated” attack that came amid criticism of a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights.

A well-known Georgian transgender woman was stabbed to death in her apartment on Wednesday, authorities said, in a “premeditated” attack that came amid criticism of a government crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights.

The nation’s ruling Georgian Dream party has advanced a “family values” bill that has been compared to Russia’s “gay propaganda” law and criticised by the European Union and rights groups as stigmatising LGBTQ+ people.

Actor, influencer and model Kesaria Abramidze was killed in a knife attack the day after the bill passed its third and final reading, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

The 37-year-old was the first person in Georgia to publicly come out as transgender. She represented the country at the Miss Trans Star International contest in 2018 and had more than 500,000 followers on Instagram.

Actor, influencer and model Kesaria Abramidze was killed in a knife attack the day after an 'anti-LGBTQ+' bill passed its third and final reading. Picture: Instagram

The interior ministry said she suffered “multiple stab wounds” and that it was investigating a “premeditated murder committed with particular cruelty and aggravating circumstances on gender grounds”.

Police have arrested a suspect, identified by Georgian media as Ms Abramidze’s boyfriend.

The murder has shocked parts of the Black Sea country, which has been rocked by major protests and political tensions for months.

Equality Movement, an LGBTQ+ rights organisation in Georgia, condemned the murder in a post on social media platform X.

“This is a wake-up call for Georgia. We must end intolerance and protect the lives of our community,” it said.

Another Georgian rights group, Social Justice Centre, said: “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 added.

The interior ministry said Ms Abramidze suffered ‘multiple stab wounds’. Picture: Instagram

Her murder has shocked equal rights groups in Georgia. Picture: Instagram

‘Horrific murder’

Critics, including the EU, have accused Georgian Dream of pushing an anti-Western, anti-liberal agenda ahead of crucial elections next month.

Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili – at loggerheads with the government – condemned the “horrific murder” in a Facebook post, saying “the tragedy must awaken Georgian society”.

Ms Abramidze herself had previously criticised the government’s approach to domestic violence and women’s rights.

In April she said she was forced to temporarily flee abroad, fearing for her life after attacks from a former partner.

“(Say) no to the femicide that has become so frequent in our country!” she said.

Georgia’s own rights ombudsman said in 2022 that “LGBTQ+ people face persistent discrimination and violence in all spheres of life”.

The latest measures, which need to be signed into law by President Zurabishvili or the parliament’s speaker, “concern restricting, in educational institutions and TV broadcasts, the propaganda of same-sex relationships and incest”.

Rights groups have criticised the wording for putting homosexual relations on par with incest.

It also bans gender transition, adoptions by gay and transgender people and nullifies same-sex marriages performed abroad.

Brussels has said the bill “undermines fundamental rights of Georgians and risks further stigmatisation and discrimination as part of the population”.