A Facebook game that allows players to control a priest who's throwing stools at gay pride marchers is being taken down by the social media site.
The game, called "Call of Taburetka," essentially allows players to recreate the violence that broke out May 17 during a rally to mark International Day Against Homophobia in Tbilisi, Georgia.
At least 17 people were injured when a mob of thousands of anti-gay Georgians -- led in part by robed Georgian Orthodox priests -- chased down lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists using stones, sticks and in at least one case, a stool.
In "Call of Taburetka," which translates to "Call of the Stool," Towleroad notes, gamers control the stool-throwing priest of the mob and progress through the game by destroying marchers and buses.
While a Call of Taburetka Game Facebook page has only a few dozen "likes," closer to 1,000 people have liked the game itself, which has 2,600 users and a 4.5 stars rating.
The game's apparent developer, a Georgian named Kakha Giorgashvili, has responded to critics of the game on Facebook, saying the game is not homophobic but merely a re-enactment of the Tbilisi march:
Dear friends, this game it not anti-gay. it just describes what happened on may 17.
From author.
But gay rights advocates don't seem to be buying Giorgashvili's explanation.
"Give me a break," writes Sal Mattos, a writer for Gay Gamer. "While there is clearly a bit of a language barrier happening here it can’t be denied that the game is blatantly homophobic... This isn’t a case of casual homophobia the likes of which we’ve seen plenty of the last few weeks. And even through the language barrier there is a sense of “Why don’t you get the joke?” that is insulting regardless of spoken tongue. Maybe I’m missing something but I’ve never found anything ‘funny’ about priests beating gay people with chairs."
Giorgashvili did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment. A Facebook representative, meanwhile, told HuffPost the game is in the process of being taken down.
Facebook requires app developers to comply with its community standards, which prohibit hate speech on the basis of "race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition."
"We take action against apps that violate our platform policies as laid out here: https://developers.facebook.com/policy/, in order to maintain a trustworthy experience for users," a representative told HuffPost in an email.
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