Georgian parliament approves anti-LGBTQ legislation, echoing measures in Russia

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday approved sweeping legislation that curtails LGBTQ+ rights, a measure that echoes laws adopted in neighboring Russia.

The bill, introduced by the ruling party Georgian Dream earlier this year, includes bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and public endorsement and depictions of LGBTQ+ relations and people in the media. It also bans gender-affirming care and changing gender designations in official documents.

The Orthodox Church wields great influence in Georgia, and demonstrations against the LGBTQ+ community are common. Last year, hundreds of opponents of gay rights stormed an LGBTQ+ festival in the Georgian capital, forcing the event’s cancellation. This year, tens of thousands marched in Tbilisi to promote “traditional family values.”

“Traditional family values” are also at the cornerstone of the Kremlin's narrative in Russia, where authorities in the last decade banned public endorsement of “nontraditional sexual relations” as well as laws against gender-affirming care, among other measures. Its Supreme Court effectively outlawed LGBTQ+ activism by labeling what the authorities called the LGBTQ+ “movement” operating in Russia as an extremist organization and banning it.