Country Of Georgia Moves To Criminalize All LGBTQ Events, Ban All LGBTQ Rights, Erase LGBTQs In Media

Deutsche Welle reports:

The latest effort to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Georgia comes shortly after a “foreign agent” law was adopted in May despite weeks of unrest and pro-EU rallies. The Georgian parliament, where the ruling Georgian Dream party has a decisive majority, will start discussing the planned LGBTQ+ bill in the coming weeks. The final reading is expected to be held in the fall.

If adopted, the bill, as well as amendments to 18 existing laws, would make any kind of LGBTQ+-related gatherings illegal. The proposal would also outlaw same-sex marriages, gender transition and the adoption of children by same-sex couples; it would also ban LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in schools and prohibit the broadcast of intimate scenes involving same-sex relationships.

Politico Europe reports:

Same-sex couples would be stripped of their rights under terms of a new draft law put forward by Georgia’s ruling party. The move marks yet another major break between the European Union and the candidate country in the South Caucasus.

On Tuesday, Shalva Papuashvili [screenshot] — the speaker of Georgia’s parliament and one of the leaders of the governing Georgian Dream faction — brought forward a package of legislation targeting so-called “LGBT propaganda.”

Broadcasters, advertisers and movie theaters will also be ordered to redact any content that features same-sex relationships, regardless of the intended age of the audience, before broadcast.

So much for their EU candidacy.

I first reported the then-proposed bill in March 2024, at which time its backers acknowledged that it could even criminalize the possession of rainbow flags.

As I reported at the time, last year Tbilisi Pride was shut down after police failed to stop hundreds of violent extremists from storming the event.

A similar incident in 2021 resulted in a fatality and a formal call for prosecutions from the US State Department. 

That same week in 2021, it was revealed that US hate group leader Brian Brown had endorsed an extremist affiliated with that year’s anti-LGBTQ mob.

As noted by Right Wing Watch at the time, Brown also accompanied said extremist when he organized “illegal gangs” to protest Tbilisi Pride in 2019. Video of Brown at that protest is still on Facebook.

Georgia, population 4 million, is around 90% Christian with most belonging to the Georgian Orthodox Church. Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Georgian Dream Party holds half of the seats in parliament, with the rest scattered among 14 other parties.

Of note, in 2022 I reported that Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili met with US leaders in Washington DC to plea for support should Russia’s attack on Ukraine expand into Georgia.

Zourabichvili leaves office later this year, after which future Georgian presidents will be “selected indirectly” by parliamentary electors.

Georgia’s ruling party has proposed a package of legislation to restrict LGBTQ+ rights — yet another initiative that is seen as a Kremlin-style repressive policy. https://t.co/vUn14cEFTM

— DW News (@dwnews) June 8, 2024

Georgia introduces Russian-style crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights — Same-sex marriages to be banned, only heteros could adopt children. Changing gender to be outlawed, references to LGBTQ+ people to be erased from public spaces and broadcasters, ads, movies https://t.co/F4eh4ELdXL

— Alfons López Tena (@alfonslopeztena) June 4, 2024

The package of anti-LGBTI laws proposed in #Georgia are an affront to the human rights of everyone in the country, a clear rejection of accession to the EU by Georgia’s Russian influenced government, and should be wholly rejected by lawmakers. https://t.co/pbir6vJzlK pic.twitter.com/TvViPDDear

— ILGA-Europe (@ILGAEurope) June 5, 2024

Today, I had the official privilege of welcoming Her Excellency Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia, to the U.S. Capitol.

Congress proudly stands with the people of Georgia, and we remain unwavering in support of their sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/UFfDJWVGCG

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) April 28, 2022

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