Georgia signs sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law

Georgia signed a wide-ranging anti-LGBTQ+ bill into law Thursday, its speaker of parliament said.

The legislation, introduced by the governing Georgian Dream party, bans same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, gender-affirming care and changing one’s gender on identity documents, and depictions of LGBTQ+ people in media.

Lawmakers approved the bill last month, but the country’s president refused to sign it, giving the speaker of parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, five days to rubber-stamp it, which he did on Thursday.

“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,” Papuashvili wrote on social media.

He added that he expected the law to “cause criticism from some foreign partners” but said Georgians “have never been afraid” to follow their “faith, common sense and loyalty to the country.”

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, warned last month that passing such a law “undermines the fundamental rights of the Georgian people” and would “derail” Georgia’s hopes of joining the EU.

The South Caucasus country was granted EU candidate status in late 2023, though its membership bid was put on ice in June after the introduction of a “foreign agents” law mirroring legislation in neighboring Russia designed to crush dissent and curb civil society.

The anti-LGBTQ+ law also echoes legislation in Russia, which has banned depictions of “non-traditional sexual relationships” since 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government last year filed a motion at the country’s Supreme Court to outlaw “the international LGBT movement” as extremist.

Georgia’s ruling party has drifted closer to Moscow and away from the West, prompting the U.S. State Department to impose travel restrictions on leading Georgian Dream politicians, who it said were “complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia.”