Kinto

A kinto (Georgian: კინტო) was a trader or an unemployed person mostly occupied in entertaining others in Georgian dukhans (restaurants), popular in Tbilisi in the 19th century and early in the 20th century.[1]

A Tbilisian kinto, photo by Dmitri Yermakov

A kinto in a photo by Alexander Roinashvili

The Georgian Kintouri (or kintauri) dance in based on the character of the kintos, and portrays them as cunning, swift, and informal. The dance is light-natured and fun to watch.

Recent research suggests that homosexuality was common among the kinto community and tolerated by the mainstream society, which did not care about the lives of these marginalized peoples. The kinto thus became a symbol of the Tbilisi Pride movement.[2]

References

Lang, David Marshall (1978). Armenia: Cradle of Civilization (2nd ed.). London: Allen & Unwin. p. 43. ISBN 9780049560086.
Shorena Gabunia - Heinrich Böll Foundation, , 2019: "The visual side of Tbilisi Pride is also very telling. Its main symbol is a Kinto — low-class traders and entertainers in 19th-century Tbilisi whose culture gave rise to the traditional Georgian comic kintouri dance — with the rainbow flag. Kintos gained some media and queer attention recently due to research that claimed that homosexuality was common in their community and was tolerated by society. The author of the research, Shorena Gabunia, argues that this 'tolerance' is not difficult to explain: high-class society simply didn't care about the practices of excluded and marginalised people. Kintos were also often used as prostitutes."

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[1] Lang, David Marshall (1978). Armenia: Cradle of Civilization (2nd ed.). London: Allen & Unwin. p. 43. ISBN 9780049560086.

[2] Shorena Gabunia - Heinrich Böll Foundation, , 2019: "The visual side of Tbilisi Pride is also very telling. Its main symbol is a Kinto — low-class traders and entertainers in 19th-century Tbilisi whose culture gave rise to the traditional Georgian comic kintouri dance — with the rainbow flag. Kintos gained some media and queer attention recently due to research that claimed that homosexuality was common in their community and was tolerated by society. The author of the research, Shorena Gabunia, argues that this 'tolerance' is not difficult to explain: high-class society simply didn't care about the practices of excluded and marginalised people. Kintos were also often used as prostitutes."