Mamuka Mdinaradze, Executive Secretary of Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party, criticized the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe on Wednesday for allegedly advocating the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country. His remarks came after the Commission voiced concerns over a proposed Georgian Dream bill aimed at restricting what it termed as LGBT propaganda.

"Georgia firmly rejects any suggestion by the Venice Commission to legalize same-sex marriage," Mdinaradze told the press. He further accused the Commission of making "unacceptable recommendations" to Georgia “recently”. 

Mdinaradze claimed that opposition parties refused to participate in parliamentary debates on the amendments due to fears of backlash from the public to “openly voice what their foreign partners are demanding from them [on the same-sex marriage]”. 

The Venice Commission's opinion followed Georgian Dream's proposal on June 4 for a legislative package that reinforces the 2017 definition of marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, aimed at promoting “family values”. It also includes measures to prohibit the dissemination of LGBT propaganda in educational settings, such as information promoting different gender identities, same-sex relationships, or incest.

The Commission on Tuesday urged the Georgian government to reconsider the legislative proposal fully and recommended changes to align its terminology with European and international standards. It cautioned that adopting the current draft could further contribute to a hostile and stigmatizing environment against LGBTI individuals in Georgia, citing European Court of Human Rights judicial practices and its own previous opinions.