Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili signed laws limiting LGBT rights. The day before, President Salome Zurabishvili refused to sign them.
"Echo of the Caucasus" writes about it.
The pro-ruling Georgian Dream party proposed the law "On family values and protection of minors" and amendments to 18 other laws. They include, in particular, a ban on the registration of any marriages other than the union of a man and a woman, the adoption of minors by homosexual couples and operations that facilitate transgender transition. In effect, it echoes Russiaʼs "banning LGBT propaganda" laws.
Speaker Papuashvili says that the signed laws "protect the most valuable thing for a person — family and children." He considers it "symbolic" that President Zurabishvili refused to sign them.
"The law I am signing 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," Papuashvili said.
At the same time, Shalva Papuashvili notes that "tolerance was, is and will be a distinctive feature of the Georgian people." But he says that citizens should realize that tolerance means "to live together on the basis of mutual respect, and not to disturb civil peace by ignoring other peopleʼs beliefs and values." According to him, the adopted law allegedly has the greatest public support.
Anti-LGBT laws in Georgia have been criticized in the European Union, and human rights organizations have opposed them — they say it will entrench the stigmatization of the LGBT community in society and promote discrimination in Georgia.
- On October 2, the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili did not sign the bills limiting LGBT rights, but she did not veto them either. According to the Georgian constitution, in this case, the laws will enter into force after being signed by the speaker of the parliament within 5 days.
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