Georgian lawmakers on Tuesday approved the third and final reading of a law on “family values and the protection of minors” that would impose sweeping curbs on LGBTQ rights.
The bill would provide a legal basis for authorities to outlaw Pride events and public displays of the LGBTQ rainbow flag, and to impose censorship of films and books.
Leaders of the governing Georgian Dream party say it is needed to safeguard traditional moral standards in Georgia, whose deeply conservative Orthodox Church is highly influential.
Activists say the measure is aimed at boosting conservative support for the government ahead of a parliamentary election on October 26 in Georgia, a country that has ambitions to join the European Union but which Western governments fear is now tilting back towards Russia.
Tamara Jakeli, director of campaign group Tbilisi Pride, said the bill, which also restates an existing ban on same-sex marriage and bans gender reassignment surgery, would likely force her organisation to close its doors.
“This law is the most terrible thing to happen to the LGBTQ community in Georgia,” Jakeli, 28, told Reuters. “We will most likely have to shut down. There is no way for us to continue functioning.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, has indicated that she will block the bill. But Georgian Dream and its allies have enough seats in parliament to override her veto.
LGBTQ rights are a fraught topic in Georgia, where polls show broad disapproval of same-sex relationships, and the constitution bans same-sex marriage. Participants in Tbilisi’s annual Pride marches have come under physical attack by anti-LGBTQ protesters in recent years.
Credit: cnn.com
