Georgia’s President: Law cannot preach sexual issues
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The President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has made his first comments about the anti-discrimination draft law currently being debated in Parliament.
Law cannot preach sexual issues, President Margvelashvili told the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
He declared it would not be harmful to anyone if the law was adopted and emphasized that adopting such a law was necessary for many reasons.
"This Bill does not hint at propaganda or granting some special privileges to people with a different sexual orientation,” Margvelashvili told journalists on Wednesday evening.
"To adopt the anti-discrimination law is one of the required procedures passed by the Association Agreement but this is also part of international politics.
"As a citizen of this country, as an Orthodox Christian, as a Georgian for whom it is important how society will be organized I want to make it noted that to prevent any sign of oppression is the main value of Christianity around the globe. I belong to a religion which teaches us to love not only our relatives but also our enemies,” the President emphasized.
Margvelashvili believed people who opposed the law were probably ill-informed and did not know enough about the Bill and it's benefits.
"There is no preaching of any type of sexual topics in this law. Generally laws cannot give a sermon about sexual issues. Laws usually permit or ban things. Therefore there is no change of identity. On the contrary, it emphasizes our tolerance. Adoption of this law will not harm any person," the President said.
Georgia was strongly encouraged by the EU to adopt the anti-discrimination law.
The anti-discrimination draft law passed in Parliament at its first hearing when the Patriarch’s Office of Georgia issued a statement asking Parliament to postpone adopting the law.
At the time dozens of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) called on the Government to make the law more effective and provide more precise explanations for what discrimination signs were.
The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Country Progress Report 2013 for Georgia, published at the end of March, included a major recommendation that Georgia immediately adopt an anti-discrimination law in what would become a prerequisite for finalizing the Visa Liberalization Action Plan.
Head of the Georgian Parliament has spoken out about the anti-discrimination draft law currently being debated in Parliament.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili believes the anti-discrimination Bill, which is being strongly criticized by the Georgian Orthodox Church, will definitely be adopted. He explained the core essence of the law and said it would not encourage or allow any illegal activity.
Hampering the adaptation of the anti-discrimination law will lead to the postponement of the visa liberalization process, said the European Union (EU) representative in Georgia today.
Georgia’s anti-discrimination draft law is remaining in the spotlight as Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili says the new law will not legalise "any illegal activity".
Parliament Speaker Davit Usupashvili is appealing to the Georgian society not to yield certain groups of speculation regarding the heavily discussed anti-discrimination law.
The anti-discrimination draft law has been discussed at the meeting betweem members of the Parliamentary majority and representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church today in a bid to clarify misunderstandings surrounding the Bill.
Parliament has adopted the Anti-Discrimination Bill with 104 votes to one with its third and final hearing today, May 2.
The President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili signed the Anti-Discrimination law today.
The "Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination" legislation went into force after it has been published on the state online registry Legislative Herald of Georgia on May 7.