Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili from the ruling Georgian Dream party announced amendments similar to the legislation already in force in Russia on “LGBT propaganda.” A recording of his briefing is published by Georgian First Channel; the content is retold by Sova.News and the Formula channel.
The amendments will prohibit showing “scenes of same-sex relationships” on television and in advertising. The deputy also mentioned the ban on “LGBT propaganda in the educational sphere” and the ban on pride rallies “popularizing same-sex relationships.”
LGBT people (Papuashvili specifically identified transgender people among them) will be prohibited from adopting children. In addition, the bill prohibits surgical operations “and other manipulations” related to transgender transition, as well as changing the gender marker in documents. In Russia, similar restrictions were introduced in July 2023.
If Russian deputies, in order to increase stigmatization, also included “propaganda of pedophilia” in the package of laws on “LGBT propaganda,” then Papuashvili mentions “propaganda of incest” along with “propaganda of same-sex relationships.”
According to the chairman of the Georgian parliament, a package of amendments has already been submitted to the committee on legal issues. The first reading is expected in the current spring session, and the final third reading in the autumn session, he added.
Yesterday, Papuashvili, as speaker of parliament, signed the law on “foreign agents”, despite the veto of the country’s President Salome Zurabishvili. It will come into force in two weeks. Since the end of April, there have been daily protests in Tbilisi, which ended in dispersals and clashes with the police. Protesters called the amendments “Russian law” due to the similarity with Russian legislation on “foreign agents.”
Georgia against the law on » foreign agents.» Photos