Progressive
2024-10-03 23:06:02 UTC
TBILISI, Georgia -- The speaker of the Georgian parliament signed into a
law Thursday a bill that severely curtails LGBTQ+ rights in the country
and mirrors legislation adopted in neighboring Russia.
Shalva Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, said on social media that the
legislation 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.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili had refused to sign the bill and
returned it to parliament on Wednesday. It was introduced by the governing
Georgian Dream party and approved by lawmakers last month.
The bill includes bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex
couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relations and
people in the media. It also bans gender-affirming care and changing
gender designations in official documents.
"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, Papuashvili wrote.
Parliament gave the legislation its final approval as Georgia, a largely
conservative country where the Orthodox Church wields significant
influence, prepares to vote in a parliamentary election. The law has been
widely seen as an effort by the governing party to shore up support among
conservative groups. It was decried by human rights advocates and LGBTQ+
activists, who said it further marginalized an already vulnerable
community.
By signing the law, Georgian Dream have taken homophobia to a new level,
and that is political and institutional homophobia, said Ana Tavadze, an
activist with Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
Georgian Dream's aim is to fabricate problems ahead of the election to
distract people from their failure to solve issues involving
unemployment, education and healthcare, Tavadze told The Associated Press.
The law has drawn comparisons with Russia, where the Kremlin has been
highlighting what it calls traditional family values. Russian authorities
in the last decade have banned public endorsement of nontraditional
sexual relations and introduced laws against gender-affirming care, among
other measures. Its Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by
labeling what the authorities called the LGBTQ+ movement operating in
Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.
In Georgia, the LGBTQ+ community has struggled even before the legislation
was introduced. Demonstrations and violent outbursts against LGBTQ+ people
have been common, and last year hundreds of opponents of gay rights
stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, forcing the
events cancellation. This year, tens of thousands marched in Tbilisi to
promote traditional family values.
A day after parliament gave its final approval to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill,
transgender actor and model Kesaria Avramidze was stabbed to death in her
apartment in Tbilisi. Rights advocates had worried that the bill would
stoke more violence.
Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, said that by not signing the bill,
President Zourabichvili and the Georgian opposition did not have enough
courage to openly express their opinion regarding this law.
Some analysts say parts of the Georgian opposition are walking a fine line
ahead of the Oct. 26 election between condemning the move to curtail
LGBTQ+ rights and not wanting to alienate some voters.
Zourabichvili has long been at odds with the governing party and vetoed a
foreign influence law adopted by parliament earlier this year. She was
overridden by parliament, where Georgian Dream dominates.
The measure requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register
as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than
20% of their funding from abroad. It ignited weeks of protests and was
widely criticized as threatening democratic freedoms. Those opposing the
law compared it to similar legislation in Russia which is routinely used
to suppress dissent, and accused the governing party of acting in concert
with Moscow, jeopardizing Georgias chances of joining the European Union.
The South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million formally applied to join the EU
in 2022, after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the bloc
halted its accession in response to the foreign influence law and froze
some of its financial support. The United States imposed sanctions on
dozens of Georgian officials in response to the law.
Georgian Dream was set up by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire
who made his fortune in Russia and served briefly as Georgias prime
minister in 2012. It promised to restore civil rights and reset
relations with Moscow, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008 over
the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia then recognized the
independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian province,
Abkhazia, and established military bases there.
Many Georgians backed Ukraine as Kyiv battled Russias invasion in 2022.
But the Georgian government abstained from joining sanctions against
Moscow, barred dozens of Kremlin critics from entering the country, and
accused the West of trying to drag Georgia into open conflict with Russia.
The opposition has accused the governing party of steering the country
into Russias orbit to the detriment of its European aspirations.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/georgian-parliament-
speaker-signs-anti-lgbtq-law-after-114456718
law Thursday a bill that severely curtails LGBTQ+ rights in the country
and mirrors legislation adopted in neighboring Russia.
Shalva Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, said on social media that the
legislation 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.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili had refused to sign the bill and
returned it to parliament on Wednesday. It was introduced by the governing
Georgian Dream party and approved by lawmakers last month.
The bill includes bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex
couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relations and
people in the media. It also bans gender-affirming care and changing
gender designations in official documents.
"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, Papuashvili wrote.
Parliament gave the legislation its final approval as Georgia, a largely
conservative country where the Orthodox Church wields significant
influence, prepares to vote in a parliamentary election. The law has been
widely seen as an effort by the governing party to shore up support among
conservative groups. It was decried by human rights advocates and LGBTQ+
activists, who said it further marginalized an already vulnerable
community.
By signing the law, Georgian Dream have taken homophobia to a new level,
and that is political and institutional homophobia, said Ana Tavadze, an
activist with Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
Georgian Dream's aim is to fabricate problems ahead of the election to
distract people from their failure to solve issues involving
unemployment, education and healthcare, Tavadze told The Associated Press.
The law has drawn comparisons with Russia, where the Kremlin has been
highlighting what it calls traditional family values. Russian authorities
in the last decade have banned public endorsement of nontraditional
sexual relations and introduced laws against gender-affirming care, among
other measures. Its Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by
labeling what the authorities called the LGBTQ+ movement operating in
Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.
In Georgia, the LGBTQ+ community has struggled even before the legislation
was introduced. Demonstrations and violent outbursts against LGBTQ+ people
have been common, and last year hundreds of opponents of gay rights
stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, forcing the
events cancellation. This year, tens of thousands marched in Tbilisi to
promote traditional family values.
A day after parliament gave its final approval to the anti-LGBTQ+ bill,
transgender actor and model Kesaria Avramidze was stabbed to death in her
apartment in Tbilisi. Rights advocates had worried that the bill would
stoke more violence.
Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, said that by not signing the bill,
President Zourabichvili and the Georgian opposition did not have enough
courage to openly express their opinion regarding this law.
Some analysts say parts of the Georgian opposition are walking a fine line
ahead of the Oct. 26 election between condemning the move to curtail
LGBTQ+ rights and not wanting to alienate some voters.
Zourabichvili has long been at odds with the governing party and vetoed a
foreign influence law adopted by parliament earlier this year. She was
overridden by parliament, where Georgian Dream dominates.
The measure requires media and nongovernmental organizations to register
as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than
20% of their funding from abroad. It ignited weeks of protests and was
widely criticized as threatening democratic freedoms. Those opposing the
law compared it to similar legislation in Russia which is routinely used
to suppress dissent, and accused the governing party of acting in concert
with Moscow, jeopardizing Georgias chances of joining the European Union.
The South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million formally applied to join the EU
in 2022, after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the bloc
halted its accession in response to the foreign influence law and froze
some of its financial support. The United States imposed sanctions on
dozens of Georgian officials in response to the law.
Georgian Dream was set up by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire
who made his fortune in Russia and served briefly as Georgias prime
minister in 2012. It promised to restore civil rights and reset
relations with Moscow, which fought a brief war with Georgia in 2008 over
the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia then recognized the
independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian province,
Abkhazia, and established military bases there.
Many Georgians backed Ukraine as Kyiv battled Russias invasion in 2022.
But the Georgian government abstained from joining sanctions against
Moscow, barred dozens of Kremlin critics from entering the country, and
accused the West of trying to drag Georgia into open conflict with Russia.
The opposition has accused the governing party of steering the country
into Russias orbit to the detriment of its European aspirations.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/georgian-parliament-
speaker-signs-anti-lgbtq-law-after-114456718