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Georgia’s ruling party on Tuesday adopted a controversial “family values” bill denounced by rights groups and the European Union as curbing the rights of LGBTQ people.
The decision is expected to further fuel tensions in the country ahead of crucial parliamentary elections scheduled in October.
In a vote boycotted by the opposition, lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream voted 84 to 0 to approve the bill “on family values and protection of minors” along with related amendments to a number of other laws.
The measure mirrors similar legislation used in Russia to curb LGBTQ rights and “concerns restricting, in educational institutions and TV broadcasts, the propaganda of same-sex relationships and incest.”
Rights groups have criticised the wording for putting homosexual relations on a par with incest.
It also bans gender transition, adoption by homosexual and transgender individuals, and nullifies same-sex marriages performed abroad on Georgian territory.
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Brussels said earlier this month that the package of proposed laws “undermines fundamental rights of Georgians and risks further stigmatisation and discrimination of part of the population.”
The EU has said the bill’s adoption would have “important repercussions” on EU-hopeful Tbilisi’s European integration path and “will place further strain on EU-Georgia relations.”
“The EU recalls that Georgia’s accession process is de facto halted and urges the authorities to recommit to the EU integration path.”
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili — who co-sponsored the bill –- said it is aimed at “strengthening mechanisms for the protection of minors and family values that are based on the union of a woman and a man.”
Tuesday’s move follows Tbilisi’s recent adoption of an anti-NGO “foreign influence” law, which triggered weeks of mass anti-government protests and Western condemnation.
Having initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda when it came to power in 2012, Georgian Dream has over the last two years intensified its anti-Western and anti-liberal positions.
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Critics accuse it of moving closer into the Kremlin’s orbit and jeopardising Georgia’s bid for EU membership.
– By: © Agence France-Presse
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