LGBT+ rights are a crucial component of human rights, ensuring equality and dignity for all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite progress, queer people in many countries continue to face discrimination, exclusion, and even violence.

Areas of persistent inequality include the right to same-sex marriages, adopt children, protection from workplace discrimination, and access to LGBT+-specific healthcare. Regrettably, in some nations, authorities continue to enact legislation that harms LGBT+ communities.

Georgia was granted official EU candidate status on 14 December 2023. However, it must meet specific goals aligned with EU values to achieve full membership. Unfortunately, by introducing laws that contradict these principles, the country risks distancing itself from a positive evaluation of its bid to join the Union. President Salome Zourabichvili has taken decisive action to address the situation.

The ruling parties in Georgia sought to introduce legislation that would have significantly harmed the LGBT+ community. The proposed laws, closely mirroring those recently passed in Russia, aimed to ban gender-affirming treatments, prevent gay and transgender individuals from adopting children, and nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad. Additionally, schools would have been prohibited from providing information that could be perceived as promoting ‘same-sex relationships or incest.'

However, President Salome Zourabichvili, alongside opposition parties, opposed the controversial measures. On Wednesday, 2 October, foreign media reported the joyous news that President Zourabichvili had refused to sign the legislation.

Sources: Interia