Georgia’s ruling party proposes bills restricting “LGBT propaganda”, after adopting agents law

Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Tuesday presented bills which he claimed would protect family values and minors and target alleged LGBT propaganda, after the party adopted the foreign influence bill which is expected to hamper the country’s Uuropean integration, as warned by the EU, US and the country’s foreign partners. 

 

Papuashvili said at a briefing in the parliament that the package of bills consists of one main bill – “On family values ​​and protection of minors” – and 18 related bills.

 

The bills ban the registration of an alternative union of marriage, which contradicts the condition established by the law of Georgia, there will be no union between a man and a woman.

 

it will not be allowed to adopt a child by individuals,  who identify themselves as a different gender or are not heterosexual.

 

It will be prohibited to perform a surgical operation or use any other manipulation for the purpose of gender reassignment.

 

it will be forbidden for a citizen to indicate a gender different from their own in an identity document or other type of document issued by the state. it will not be allowed to produce LGBT propaganda in an educational institution, in particular, to promote the dissemination of such information, which is aimed at the promotion of a person’s belonging to a gender different from their own, same-sex relations or incest.

 

it will not be permissible for the broadcaster to disseminate such information, which is aimed at the promotion of a person’s belonging to a gender different from their  own, same-sex relations or incest. This prohibition applies only to the extent that it is not allowed to broadcast scenes depicting intimate relations between representatives of the same sex or scenes of incest. Advertising of the same content will also be prohibited.
Public assembly or demonstration aimed at promoting a person’s belonging to a different gender, same-sex relationship or incest will not be allowed. Any obligation imposed within the framework of labor relations, which is aimed at neglecting biological sex, will be void.

According to Papuashvili, May 17 will be officially established as the “Day of Family Sanctity and Family Respect” and it will be declared a holiday.

 

As the Speaker of the Parliament noted, the GD did not have a constitutional majority in the Parliament, therefore, the current Parliament would approve the new law and the amendments arising from it.

 

“During the current spring session [ends June 28], we will consider this bill in first reading and pass it in first reading. And in the fall session [opens on September 3], this package will be adopted in the second and third readings,” said Papuashvili.

 

According to the regulations, in the year of parliamentary elections, “plenary sessions are not held for one month before the elections”. Parliamentary elections will be held on October 26. As for the constitutional amendments restricting LGBT rights, the organizing commission for universal and public discussions created on this issue finished its work on May 16. It is not yet known when the bill will be discussed in the parliament.

 

The bill envisages an amendment to Article 30 of the Constitution of Georgia (right to marriage, rights of mothers and children). Article 30 of the current version of the Constitution reads marriage as a union between a man and a woman for the purpose of creating a family, and is based on the legal equality and voluntariness of the spouses. The rights of mothers and children are protected by law.

 

According to the bill, paragraph three will be added to this article: -“The protection of family values ​​and minors is ensured by the constitutional law of Georgia, which is an integral part of the Constitution of Georgia.”

 

According to the decision of the Georgian Dream, the discussion of both bills will start simultaneously. The draft of the constitutional law will be put to the vote only if an amendment is made to Article 30 of the Constitution. In order to adopt the constitutional law, the support of three quarters of the full composition of the Parliament (113 MPs) is required. If the change is approved by two-thirds (100 votes), it will be considered accepted only if the same number of MPs confirm their support by another vote in the parliament of the next convocation.