TBILISI, Sept 17 (Askume) – Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday approved the third and final reading of a law on “family values and protection of minors” that would impose sweeping restrictions on LGBT rights.
The bill would provide authorities with a legal basis to ban pride events and public displays of the LGBT rainbow flag, as well as censor films and books.
The leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party said it was necessary to maintain Georgia’s traditional moral standards because of the influence of Georgia’s ultra-conservative Orthodox Church.
Activists said the measure was aimed at boosting conservative support for the government ahead of Georgia’s parliamentary elections on October 26.
Tamara Jaakli, director of the Tbilisi Pride Movement, said the bill also reaffirms existing bans on gay marriage and bans gender reassignment surgery, which could force her organisation to close its doors.
“This law is the scariest thing that has happened to the LGBT community in Georgia,” Jackley, 28, told Askume.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of the “Georgian Dream” whose powers are largely ceremonial, said she would block the bill. But Georgian Dream and its allies have enough seats in parliament to override her veto.
LGBT rights are a sore subject in Georgia, with polls showing widespread opposition to same-sex relationships and the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. In recent years, participants in Tbilisi’s annual Pride parade have been physically attacked by anti-LGBT protesters.
Foreign agents
The issue has become more prominent ahead of the October election, where Georgia Dream is seeking a fourth term and has campaigned strongly against LGBT rights.
The ruling party, whose top election candidate is billionaire former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, has deepened ties with neighboring Russia as relations with the West have soured.
Earlier this year it passed a law on “foreign agents” that critics in Europe and the United States described as authoritarian and Russian-inspired. The bill’s passage triggered the biggest protests in Georgia since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The party, which passed a law banning anti-LGBT discrimination in 2014 and has since shifted to more conservative positions, remains the most popular in Georgia despite losses since winning a slim majority in parliament in 2020, polls show.
In an advertisement for the ruling party aired on Georgian television, Pride director Jackie’s face appeared next to the words “Say no to moral degradation.”
Zakli said the bill could only be stopped if the Georgian Dream party loses power in October, though he added that the country’s opposition parties have not openly supported LGBT rights.
He said, “The only way we’re going to survive in this country and make any progress on LGBT rights is if we come out in large numbers and vote for change.”
