Georgia’s parliament passes an anti-LGBTQ+ bill highlighting rising conservative values, mirroring Russia’s legislation and raising human rights concerns.
On Thursday, the leader of Georgia’s Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, made a controversial decision that really limits the rights of LGBTQ+ people, following in the footsteps of similar laws in Russia.
Papuashvili tried to justify the law on social media, saying it’s all about “common sense, history, and the values we’ve had for centuries,” instead of modern ideas.
This law, which was pushed by the Georgian Dream party and approved by lawmakers last month, stops same-sex couples from getting married or adopting kids, limits how LGBTQ+ relationships are shown in the media and stops gender-affirming care and changing gender names on official documents.
Papuashvili said the law protects everyone’s rights and is a step towards real democracy.
In a place where the Orthodox Church is a big deal, this law is seen as a move to get support from people who are more conservative before the next election.
People who care about human rights and LGBTQ+ people have been really upset about it, saying it makes things worse for a group that’s already facing a lot of challenges.
This law also looks a lot like what’s happening in Russia, where the government has been pushing for “traditional family values,” banning any talk about “non-traditional sexual relationships” and cracking down on LGBTQ+ groups by calling them extremist.
In Georgia, LGBTQ+ people have been dealing with a lot of problems, including violent attacks—like the big LGBTQ+ festival in Tbilisi that got shut down last year.
Georgian parliament speaker signs anti-LGBTQ law after president refuses to sign it https://t.co/PtdR70fAHZ
— WRAL NEWS in NC (@WRAL) October 3, 2024
Sadly, right after the bill was passed, the transgender actor and model Kesaria Avramidze was killed in Tbilisi, making people worry that the new law might lead to more violence against LGBTQ+ people.
Papuashvili criticized President Salome Zourabichvili for not signing the bill, saying the opposition didn’t have the guts to stand up to it.
As Georgia gets closer to its October 26 elections, some opposition members are trying to be careful, not wanting to go against the bill but also not wanting to lose support from more conservative people.
Zourabichvili has had problems with the Georgian Dream party before, like when she stopped a law that would have made media and NGOs that get a lot of money from abroad register as foreign agents.
This law has caused a lot of protests and has made the EU and the US put sanctions on some Georgian officials.
Even though Georgia wanted to join the EU in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine, things have gotten stuck, especially after the “foreign influence” law caused the EU to stop giving money and the US to put sanctions on some Georgian officials.
The Georgian Dream party, which is linked to Russia, has made a lot of people in Georgia worried about their country’s independence and its future as a democracy, especially with Russia getting more and more aggressive.
