Parliament Speaker signs "Anti-LGBT Propaganda Bill"

The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, on October 3 signed the draft law against “LGBT propaganda.”

Papuashvili wrote on social media that the law he signed does not reflect current, temporary, changing ideas and ideologies, but is based on common sense, historical experience and centuries-old Christian, Georgian and European values.

“Today, according to the Constitution of Georgia, I am signing the law “On Family Values and Protection of Minors”, which was not signed by President Salome Zurabishvili.

“It is symbolic that the nominal leader of the stateless and devalued opposition, who has become a lovable president, refuses to sign a law that protects the most valuable thing for a person – family and children. From this refusal, it is clear where Salome Zurabishvili stands and where the stateless oppositionists stand, who did not have enough courage to openly express their opinion regarding this law and shamefully sneaked out of the hall during the voting on the law.

“The law that I am signing does not reflect current, temporary, changing ideas and ideologies, but is based on common sense, historical experience and centuries-old Christian, Georgian and European values.

“I understand well that the signing of this law will cause criticism from some foreign partners, but we Georgians have never been afraid of others’ assessments when our faith, common sense and loyalty to the country required us to do so, and when we saw that the currents of civilization were cutting the wrong bed. It has carried us through the millennia. This is how we have preserved our identity. At the same time, in the same foreign country, we see the spirit of millions of people in agreement with this law.

“This law protects the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression, so that the rights of others are not violated, which is the essence and idea of true democracy,” the Speaker said.

He claimed that tolerance was, is and will be a distinctive feature of the Georgian people. However, Papuashvili added, “we must also realize that tolerance means living together based on mutual respect, not living by violating civil peace by ignoring other people’s beliefs and values.”

“This law is one of the ones with the greatest public support. On May 17, 2024, about a million citizens of Georgia took to the streets of Georgian cities, thereby holding an actual referendum on this law. In the process of its adoption, we also had discussions with representatives of religious denominations, where both the Georgian Orthodox Church and other religious denominations expressed their full support for the spirit of this law.

“Therefore, for me, signing this law is the signature with the greatest legitimacy. A signature behind which both the nation and the Church stand,” Papuashvili wrote on Facebook.

On September 17, the Georgian Parliament adopted the anti-LGBTQ+ legislative package in its third hearing with 84 votes in favor, 0 votes against. The package consists of a core bill “On Protection of Family Values and Minors” and 18 related amendments to various laws of Georgia.

Prior to the adoption of the law, 32 civil society organizations issued a statement condemning the legislative package. The CSOs stated that the GD is pushing for the adoption of this package with the aim of “manipulating the public before the elections, covering up real problems, inciting irrational fear and creating another obstacle on the road to the country’s European integration”.

The organizations underlined that the legislative package entitled “On the Protection of Family Values and Minors” does not in fact provide a real solution to the problems faced by families in Georgia, such as poverty, inflation, high migration rate, lack of infrastructure necessary for a decent life, education, etc. “The only way to respond to these and other real challenges is to make principled and determined progress on the path of Georgia’s European integration – exactly what the government is trying to prevent, including with this legislative package,” the civil society organizations noted.

The CSOs also emphasized that the legislative package in fact legalizes censorship and is a gross interference in the right to assembly. At the same time, the package is harmful not only for the LGBTQ+ community, but for all citizens, because creating a precedent of restricting the rights of one group of people has shown that in many other states it turned into repressions against other groups as well, therefore it may give the ruling party a basis to restrict the rights of other people as well.

On June 26, the Venice Commission published its opinion on the core law and amendments. The Commission called on the Georgian government “reconsider this legislative proposal entirely and to not proceed with its adoption” or, if it proceeds with its adoption, to remove/modify some of the articles in a way that ensures non-discrimination of LGBTI people and compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.