“We are trying to protect our orthodoxy, not to let anyone to wipe their feet on our faith,” said Manana Okhanashvili. “We must not allow them to have a gay demonstration here.”

via Gay Rights Rally Is Attacked in Georgia – NYTimes.com.

I have a few things to say about this. First, shame on all of y’all (including myself) who assumed this was the state of Georgia, USA.

Second, people who use religion as justification for hate ought to rethink the whole thing. Really, you have no sense of shame, so shame on you for that.

Finally, I actually redacted the quote, above, from the NT Times. Here it is in its entirety, with the part I previously omitted in bold:

“We are trying to protect our orthodoxy, not to let anyone to wipe their feet on our faith,” said Manana Okhanashvili, in a head scarf and long skirt. “We must not allow them to have a gay demonstration here.”

Now, what conclusion are we supposed to draw from that snippet? That Manana Okhanashvili is a religious zealot? I think we got that from the words and actions. Let’s stop feeding into stereotypes by judging people by the clothes they wear, ok, NYT? Or did I misunderstand the true necessity of that bit of detail?