CoE Commissioner calls on Georgian Parliament to refrain from adopting bill on “protecting family values, minors”

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday published a letter sent to the Chair of the Parliament of Georgia to ask members of the legislative body to refrain from adopting the draft law on “protection of family values and minors”.

O’Flaherty also called on members of Parliament to engage with national and international partners to protect the human rights of LGBTI people, combat discrimination against them and to refrain from using rhetoric that stigmatises LGBTI people.

The Commissioner said the bill was “providing a legal footing for discrimination” against LGBTI people and appeared to be “at variance” with the European Convention on Human Rights.

He further expressed concerns about “prejudice against LGBTI people in segments of Georgian society, including among some politicians”, and said the bill was “perpetuating the stigma and discrimination” faced by LGBTI people by listing sexual orientation and gender identity alongside incest.  

The legislative initiative of the ruling party prohibits “production of LGBT propaganda” in educational institutions - in particular, dissemination of information “aimed at the promotion of a person's belonging to a different gender than their own, same-sex relationships or incest”.