TBILISI, September 17. /TASS/. The Georgian parliament has adopted a bill banning LGBT propaganda and gender reassignment in the third and final reading, according to a live broadcast of the session.
The bill, which will now be sent to the country’s president Salome Zourabichvili for signing, was approved by 84 lawmakers. None opposed it. Lawmakers also approved other bills included in the package.
In particular, the bill aimed to clarify issues related to marriage, adoption and custody of minor children, as well as gender-affirming surgeries.
According to the amendments, Georgia will no longer allow marriages other than between a man and a woman, homosexual couples will be banned from adopting underage children, and all gender-affirming surgeries will be forbidden. Violators of these newly introduced amendments could face one to four years in prison. Those who engage in LGBT propaganda, that is disseminating it in educational institutions, broadcasting it or advertising it, are now also subject to heavy fines. Public gatherings and rallies aimed at LGBT popularization are also now banned.
Earlier, when the bill was adopted in the second reading, the EU diplomatic service criticized the initiative. According to it, the adoption of the corresponding bill will further escalate tensions between the EU and Tbilisi. The service pointed out that the bill "undermines the fundamental rights of Georgian people and risks further stigmatization and discrimination of part of the population." For his part, the country's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that the bill was aimed at restricting LGBT propaganda, not human rights. He emphasized that Europe represents traditional Christian values, and if someone wants to present things differently, Georgia categorically rejects this.