Georgia Enacts Anti-LGBTQ Bill into Law

The speaker of Georgia’s parliament signed into law a bill similar to Russian legislation that restricts the rights of LGBTQ people, despite warnings from the EU.

This action followed a refusal by Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zurabishvili, to sign the bill, highlighting her conflict with the ruling Georgian Dream party.

The legislation mirrors Moscow’s “gay propaganda” law, banning gender reassignment and nullifying same-sex marriages conducted abroad or within Georgia.

“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.

The ruling Georgian Dream party pushed the bill through parliament last month, during a vote boycotted by the opposition, intensifying tensions ahead of the crucial parliamentary elections on October 26.

Papuashvili stated that 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”.