Georgia's president blocks anti-LGBT+ bill, upholds EU values

The rights of LGBT+ individuals are a fundamental element of human rights protection, ensuring equality and dignity for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In many countries, queer people still face discrimination, exclusion, and even violence.

The right to marry, adopt children, protection from workplace discrimination, and access to healthcare tailored to LGBT+ individuals are just some of the areas where inequality persists. Unfortunately, the authorities in some countries continue to implement rules that harm LGBT+ individuals.

On December 14, 2023, Georgia gained official candidate status for the European Union. To join this economic and political union, it must meet specific criteria. Unfortunately, by introducing provisions contradicting EU values, it is moving further away from a positive consideration of its request to join the EU. The country's president, Salome Zourabichvili, took matters into her own hands.

The ruling parties in Georgia wanted to introduce laws that would severely harm the LGBT+ community. The proposed bills were very similar to those recently introduced in Russia. They would ban actions like gender reassignment and the adoption of children by homosexual and transgender individuals, as well as invalidate same-sex marriages conducted abroad. Additionally, schools would be prohibited from presenting information that could be interpreted as "propaganda of belonging to the opposite gender, same-sex relationships, or incest."

The country's president, Salome Zourabichvili, and opposition parties opposed the controversial legislation. On Wednesday, October 2, at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, foreign media reported that she did not sign the documents.