Georgia's ruling party on Tuesday, September 17, adopted a controversial "family values" bill denounced by rights groups and the European Union as curbing the rights of LGBTQ+ people. The decision is expected to further fuel tensions in the country ahead of crucial parliamentary elections scheduled in October. In a vote boycotted by the opposition, lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream voted 84 to 0 to approve the bill "on family values and protection of minors" along with related amendments to a number of other laws. The bill has to be signed by pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili, or – in the event she refuses to do so – by the parliament's speaker.
The measure mirrors similar legislation used in Russia to curb LGBTQ+ rights and "concerns restricting, in educational institutions and TV broadcasts, the propaganda of same-sex relationships and incest." Rights groups have criticized the wording for putting homosexual relations on a par with incest. It also bans gender transition, adoption by gay and transgender people, and nullifies same-sex marriages performed abroad on Georgian territory.
Brussels said earlier this month that the package of proposed laws "undermines fundamental rights of Georgians and risks further stigmatization and discrimination of part of the population." The EU has said the bill's adoption would have "important repercussions" on EU-hopeful Tbilisi's European integration path and "will place further strain on EU-Georgia relations." "The EU recalls that Georgia's accession process is de facto halted and urges the authorities to recommit to the EU integration path."
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili – who co-sponsored the bill – said it is aimed at "strengthening mechanisms for the protection of minors and family values that are based on the union of a woman and a man." Tuesday's move follows Tbilisi's recent adoption of an anti-NGO "foreign influence" law, which triggered weeks of mass anti-government protests and Western condemnation.
'Rights abuses'
On Monday, the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions against two Georgian government officials "for their involvement in serious human rights abuse during the violent response to peaceful protests against the foreign influence law." Blinken said Washington is "taking additional steps to impose visa restrictions on more than 60 Georgian individuals and their family members responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Georgia." "We remain concerned about human rights abuses and anti-democratic actions in Georgia, and we will continue to consider additional actions in response," he said in a statement.
In May, the EU warned the Georgian Dream government it was "derailing" from its path to joining the bloc by advancing measures that run counter to European values. Russia passed similar legislation more than a decade ago banning the promotion of "non-traditional" relationships to children. It was slammed in the West as stigmatising the LGBTQ+ community, but heralded by ultra-conservative lawmakers as a rejection of liberal Western values. Moscow expanded it in 2022 to effectively outlaw any public representation of LGBTQ+ people.
Having initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda when it came to power in 2012, Georgian Dream has over the last two years intensified its anti-Western and anti-liberal positions. Critics accuse it of moving closer into the Kremlin's orbit and jeopardising Georgia's bid for EU membership.