Georgia's parliament signed a wide-ranging anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law Thursday, 03, October, 2024 its speaker of parliament said.
The law restricts LGBTQ+ rights, banning same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, and gender-affirming care.
The legislation, introduced by the governing Georgian Dream party also prohibits changing one's gender on identity documents and depictions of LGBTQ+ people in media.
This legislation, introduced by the governing Georgian Dream party, has been compared to similar laws in Russia and Bulgaria. The bill was signed into law by the Speaker of Georgia's parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, despite warnings from the European Union.
However, The EU has condemned the law, stating it undermines the fundamental rights of Georgian people and risks further stigmatization and discrimination. In response, the EU is considering revoking Georgia's visa-free travel privileges and reevaluating other agreements.
Similarly, The United States has also imposed sanctions on certain members of the Georgian parliament.
According to reports, the move came a day after Georgia’s pro-Western president Salome Zurabishvili — at loggerheads with the ruling Georgian Dream party — refused to sign the bill.
The bill is similar to Moscow’s “gay propaganda” law, which also bans gender reassignment and nullifies same-sex marriages performed abroad or on Georgian territory.
“In conformity with the constitution, I signed today the law ‘on family values and the protection of minors’, which Salome Zurabishvili didn’t sign,” speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Facebook.
Politico reports that the ruling Georgian Dream pushed the bill through parliament last month, a vote boycotted by the opposition and which has fuelled tensions ahead of crucial October 26 parliamentary elections.
Papuashvili said the measure “is based on common sense, historical experience and centuries-old Christian, Georgian, and European values, rather than on changeable ideas and ideologies”.
He claimed that the “law protects the rights of all citizens”.
However, rights groups and Western countries have said that it is discriminatory and creates a dangerous environment for LGBTQ people.
A day after parliament gave its final approval to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, transgender actor and model Kesaria Avramidze was stabbed to death in her apartment in Tbilisi. Rights advocates had worried that the bill would stoke more violence, a report said.
The bill also comes after Tbilisi’s recent adoption of an anti-NGO “foreign influence law”, which triggered weeks of mass anti-government protests and Western condemnation.
Politico further reported that Critics accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of moving closer into the Kremlin’s orbit and jeopardising Georgia’s bid for EU membership.
According to Washington Times The law has drawn comparisons with Russia, where the Kremlin has been highlighting what it calls traditional family values. Russian authorities in the last decade have banned public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” and introduced laws against gender-affirming care, among other measures. Its Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by labeling what the authorities called the LGBTQ+ “movement” operating in Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.
The media platform added that In Georgia, the LGBTQ+ community has struggled even before the legislation was introduced. Demonstrations and violent outbursts against LGBTQ+ people have been common, and last year hundreds of opponents of gay rights stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, forcing the event’s cancellation. This year, tens of thousands marched in Tbilisi to promote “traditional family values.”
