At today's plenary session of Parliament, the homophobic legislative amendments proposed by Georgian Dream were adopted in the second reading. These amendments envisage restricting the rights of LGBT people and introducing censorship. The package of bills, titled On Family Values and Protection of Minors, was supported by 81 deputies, including 78 members of the parliamentary majority (Georgian Dream/People's Power) and 3 members of European Socialists. Only Girchi from the opposition participated in the discussion of the changes.
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According to the changes initiated by Georgian Dream, it is prohibited to include such information in the educational programs of kindergartens, schools, vocational, and higher educational institutions, or to distribute such information within the premises of these institutions. This includes the promotion or dissemination of content aimed at encouraging sexual orientation or incest between individuals of the same biological sex, identifying with no biological sex, or identifying with a gender different from one's biological sex.
Tengiz Sharmanashvili, the MP speaking on the bill, stated that if any educational material currently in schools contradicts the law and "falls under the regulation of promotion," the Ministry of Education should take action to remove such literature.
According to the changes, spreading such information on television is also prohibited. Herman Sabo, a member of Girchi, asked Tengiz Sharmanashvili about the enforcement of the law: "For example, in Iran, there is a practice of cutting sexual scenes from films and using black cubes as censorship. I believe the law should also guide television owners on how to avoid violating this law. I couldn't find anything like that here. How can television prevent violating this law and ensure that sexually explicit content you seek to ban doesn't accidentally air?" the MP asked.
"If you did not foresee that this could happen, for instance, during a live broadcast, and someone suddenly begins promoting such content, the television station will not face any consequences because it did not plan for it and could not predict what this or that person would do. Secondly, there is a methodology for editing intimate scenes or processing them with appropriate technical means. In the following articles, we are discussing intimate scenes... the legislator mentioned that such intimate scenes depicting relationships between different sexes will either be edited out or retouched if it can be done technically," Sharmanashvili explained.
When Vakhtang Megrelishvili, another deputy of Girchi, asked what exactly is meant by family values and what dangers minors need protection from, Tengiz Sharmanashvili responded:
"The constitution also explains what a family is. It is the union of a woman and a man to create a family. This is the core value, the definition of a family according to the Constitution of Georgia. Everything beyond this definition, which would prevent its realization, is addressed in this law to protect the constitutional record. As for the protection of minors, it is not specifically mentioned in the law. However, I can provide numerous articles that address the protection of minors from propaganda. For example, a minor will not be allowed into a movie theater showing a film that depicts intimate relationships between same-sex couples. That is included in this law."
If the amendments are adopted, it will also be prohibited to register a union between individuals of the same biological sex as a marriage or to recognize such a union as a marriage by any legal act. Additionally, any such union registered or recognized as a marriage abroad will not have legal force in Georgia.
The adoption of a minor by a person who does not identify with any biological sex, identifies with a gender different from their biological sex, or whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual will also be prohibited. One of Girchi's remarks is related to this provision.
"Such people have always existed as a natural percentage in any society. We are telling them that people like you, in theory, do not have the right to raise a child. What do we say to today's citizens of Georgia - the 3 to 7% that we know exist - who have no desire to participate in LGBT activism, who are ordinary citizens living this lifestyle, who have children and families?! Is this attitude of the state not offensive to them? I have never heard, even from a religious or moral point of view, that a person is forbidden to raise a child regardless of their orientation," said Vakhtang Megrelishvili.
According to the legal amendments of Georgian Dream, it will be forbidden to perform a surgical operation or other type of medical procedure on someone else for the purpose of changing their sex, or to indicate a gender different from their biological sex in civil records during the registration of a civil act.
Furthermore, gatherings and demonstrations will be prohibited if they aim to promote identifying with a gender different from one's own, same-sex relationships, or incest. The police will have the authority to ask the gathering to disperse. If the assembly or demonstration is not stopped within 15 minutes of this request, law enforcement will use "measures provided by the legislation of Georgia" to stop it.
The changes also apply to labor relations. Specifically, any obligation imposed within the framework of a labor relationship that aims to disregard biological sex will be invalid.
In addition to the aforementioned legislative package, Georgian Dream has initiated the draft of the constitutional law On Family Values and Protection of Minors, which does not have the necessary constitutional majority (113 deputies) in the tenth convocation of Parliament. The conclusion of the Venice Commission states that by adopting the draft constitutional law, the government risks strengthening stigma and prejudice, and encouraging homophobia, which is incompatible with the concepts of equality, pluralism, and tolerance that are characteristic of a democratic society.
