Georgia's parliament will soon begin debating a broad “family values” bill that will include bans on “LGBT propaganda” and gender reassignment surgeries, the parliament speaker said on Tuesday.
The first of three mandatory readings of the bill would take place in the current spring session of parliament, the Interpress news service said, citing Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.
The ruling Georgian Dream party announced the bill in March, drawing condemnation from LGBT activists and human rights groups.
The debate on this issue will take place at a time of high political tension in the country, after weeks of huge protests against a bill on “foreign agents” that was finally sanctioned this week.
The proposed measures are likely to fuel European Union and US concerns about Georgia's political direction, following their criticism of the foreign agents law, which critics consider Russian-inspired and repressive.
Interpress quoted Papuashvili as saying the bill would also ban non-heterosexual people from adopting children and prevent people from changing gender on identity documents. Public gatherings promoting same-sex relationships would not be permitted.
The bill would ban “LGBT propaganda” in the education system and prevent broadcasters from showing intimate scenes involving same-sex relationships.
A predominantly Orthodox Christian nation, Georgia is socially conservative, with polls showing that a large majority of the population disapprove of same-sex relationships.
The opposition has claimed that Georgian Dream's anti-LGBT agenda is an attempt to bolster its support among conservatives and distract voters from economic problems ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
The ruling party claims the bill is necessary to defend against “pseudo-liberal” values that undermine traditional family relationships.
Source: CNN Brasil
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