A/HRC/41/45/Add.1 concern, given the stigma, stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding gender, sexuality and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons in Georgia. 85. Culture and sport are two powerful media to raise awareness among the general population, promote human rights and foster social inclusion. Systematically, in all meetings with all stakeholders, the urgent need to raise awareness and foster tolerance was highlighted as a key approach to eradicating violence and discrimination towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons. Unfortunately, to date, there is no State programme, policy or strategy to tackle this issue through culture or sport. On the contrary, when the vice-captain of the national football team of Georgia wore an arm band in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons during a match in October 2017, it generated an extremely negative reaction, including a spike in homophobic comments and a demonstration in front of the Georgian Football Federation during which a rainbow flag was burned.45 The Independent Expert regrets that in this highly visible instance, which created an obvious opportunity for social change, the footballer did not receive the vocal and unanimous support of the State, including the Ministry of Education and Culture. V. Conclusions 86. Georgia has made impressive progress in setting up the legal, policy and institutional framework necessary to tackle violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. There are, however, major gaps in terms of implementation that hinder the ability of the State to address this phenomenon. As a result, hate speech is on the rise, homophobic and transphobic hate crime remains rampant and discrimination is pervasive. Education and awareness-raising are key tools and must be considered a priority. To date, prevalent stigma and prejudice hinder the deployment of effective State measures and fuel intolerance, discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons. 87. Georgia must address the systemic factors that deny lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans and gender diverse persons the right to live free and equal in Georgia. Some may argue that this work takes one or many generations to accomplish, and that may be the case. But every Georgian who happens to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse deserves to see, today, decisive forward-looking action that paves the way to freedom and equality. VI. Recommendations 88. The Independent Expert recommends that Georgia take the actions detailed below. Legal framework 89. Amend the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, as recommended by the Public Defender.46 90. Ensure that the process of legal recognition of gender identity is based on selfdetermination by the applicant, is a simple administrative process, is exempt from abusive requirements, recognizes non-binary identities and is accessible to minors. Public policies 91. In order to assess to what extent its lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse populations are left behind, establish a knowledge base to assess the lived experience of these populations. When doing so, the following areas should be considered: health, education, economic well-being (including rates of poverty, 45 46 See Media Development Foundation, “Hate speech”. Special report on the fight against discrimination, 2018, p. 24. 17