Georgia Parliament Approves Bill Banning LGBTQ Propaganda, Transgender Surgery

Georgia’s parliament Tuesday, voted to approve a “family values and protection of minors” legislation, which restricts LGBTQ propaganda in educational institutions and TV broadcasts. The measure echoes similar laws adopted in neighboring Russia, and other countries.

The legislation which is pushed by the governing Georgian Dream party, prohibits the promotion of same-sex relationships and incest in educational institutions and TV broadcasts. It bans so-called gender-affirming care and gender reassignment surgery. The bill nullifies homosexual marriages performed abroad on Georgian territory and bans adoption by homosexual and transgender individuals. The country's constitution already bans homosexual marriage.

The bill also bans the depiction of LGBTQ relationships or individual in films, books, and other media.

Dream party leaders say the legislation is needed to safeguard traditional moral standards in Georgia, where the conservative Orthodox Church is highly influential. Polls in the country, show broad disapproval of homosexual relationships. Tbilisi’s annual Pride marches have faced widespread counter-protests in recent years, by citizens opposed to LGBTQ degeneracy.

Far-left activists have slammed the legislation, claiming it is aimed at boosting conservative support for the government ahead of a parliamentary election on Oct. 26 in Georgia.

Georgian left-wing ceremonial President Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of Georgian Dream, has indicated that she will block the bill. But Georgian Dream and its allies have enough seats in parliament to override her veto.

Tamara Jakeli, director of campaign group Tbilisi Pride, said the bill would likely force her organisation to close its doors. "This law is the most terrible thing to happen to the LGBT community in Georgia," she said to reporters. "We will most likely have to shut down. There is no way for us to continue functioning."

Left-wing activists and leaders in the European Union and United States have condemned the legislation. But conservatives praised Georgian lawmakers for approving the bill which they see as a necessary pushback against LGBTQ degeneracy aggressively pushed by far-left activists and their globalist billionaire funders like George Soros.