Parliament Speaker signs ruling party-initiated bills on “family values, protection of minors” into law

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday signed into law the package of bills on “family values ​​and protection of minors”, initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party and criticised by the country’s Western partners.

The legislative initiative calls for prohibition of “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”.

Today, according to the Constitution of Georgia, I am signing the law on family values ​​and protection of minors, which [the President] Salome Zourabichvili refused to sign”, the Speaker said in a social media message.

Papuashvili further noted it was “symbolic that the nominal leader of a stateless and devalued opposition” had refused to sign a law that was “protecting the most valuable thing to a human being - family and children”, in reference to Zourabichvili.

“The law that I am signing does not reflect current, temporary, changing ideas and ideologies, but is based on common sense, historical experience and centuries-old Christian, Georgian and European values”, he noted.

Papuashvili added the signing of the law would cause criticism from some foreign partners, adding “but we Georgians have never been afraid of others' assessments when our faith, common sense and loyalty to the country required us to do so”.

This law protects the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression, so that the rights of others are not violated, which is the essence and idea of ​​true democracy”, he continued.

The Speaker further claimed the law was “one of the bills most widely supported by the public”, adding “on May 17, 2024, nearly one million Georgian citizens took to the streets of Georgian cities, effectively creating a referendum on this law”.

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, last month 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.

He 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.