Georgia's Family Values Law
The Georgian Parliament supported the homophobic and propagandistic bill “On the Protection of Family Values and Minors” in its second reading. The opposition did not take part in the discussion or the vote.
The bill was supported by 81 MPs.
The EU has condemned the rushed second reading of the legislative package on “family values and protection of minors,” according to a statement from Peter Stano, spokesman for the EU High Representative.
The statement stressed that the package undermines the fundamental rights of Georgian citizens and risks increasing stigmatization and discrimination against a part of the population.
“The European Union is concerned that this important law, with significant implications for Georgia’s EU integration, was adopted without proper public consultation or thorough analysis of its compliance with European and international standards.”
The protection of human rights is a central part of the EU enlargement process, which is assessed annually in the European Commission's Enlargement Report.
The EU urges the Georgian authorities to fully reconsider this legislative package. This bill, together with the restrictions imposed on civil society by the Foreign Influence Transparency Law, will further strain EU-Georgia relations.
The EU recalls that Georgia's accession process has effectively stopped and calls on the authorities to return to the path of EU integration,” the statement said.
- The ruling party “Georgian Dream” wants to enshrine in law that a marriage can only be registered if it is between a man and a woman. Additionally, members of the queer community cannot adopt minors. It should be noted that in Georgia, queer people are already barred from adoption under current law.
- The new changes further degrade transgender rights by restricting access to medical services, gender reassignment procedures and the ability to change gender markers on identification documents to reflect gender identity.
- The changes also restrict freedom of expression. According to Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, schools will be banned from disseminating information “that promotes identification with a gender other than one's own, as well as promoting same-sex relationships or incest.”
- Such information will also be banned on television, which will likely mean that certain scenes will have to be cut from films.
- If passed, the law would ban public gatherings and demonstrations “aimed at promoting identification with a gender other than one's own, same-sex relationships or incest.”
With this bill, Georgian Dream claims to “protect family values,” but in reality it restricts LGBT rights and imposes censorship. The Venice Commission has produced a critical report on this homophobic legislation.
