Georgia's government intends to enact legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
Georgia's leadership intends to limit the rights of LGBTQ people by passing legislation inspired by Russian laws. The Georgian Dream party put forward a package of laws titled "Family Values and the Protection of Minors" that were announced by Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday. These include amendments to civil, labor, and education laws.
Papuashvili stated that the Georgian constitution only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman, so same-sex marriages should be prohibited. Non-heterosexual individuals should not be allowed to adopt children, and gender should only be recorded as male or female on identity documents. Doctors would also be barred from performing gender-affirming surgeries for trans people.
In line with Russian efforts, "LGBT propaganda" is to be suppressed in Georgia. No demonstrations, school lessons, media, or advertising shall discuss homosexual relationships or transgender identity. Russsia's Kremlin chief, Vladimir Putin, has been promoting traditional values like Orthodoxy, family, and patriotism while tightening repressive laws against the LGBTQI+ community, especially after the war against Ukraine.
Critics of the Georgian Dream government worry that the country is following a similar path. They fear this could hurt the prospects for membership in the EU and NATO. In October, Georgia holds its next parliamentary election. The government faced two months of protests against a law restricting foreign influence on civil society organizations, but passed it despite the opposition.
LGBTQI+ stands for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, queer people, and other gender identities and sexual orientations. The term 'queer' is also sometimes used for all people who are not heterosexual or don't identify with the gender assigned to them at birth.
