Georgian Dream pledges to discuss ban on LGBT marches and ‘related colourful items’

The speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, announced the upcoming legislative review of another anti-LGBT proposal during a press conference on Friday.

‘There is a legislative proposal regarding the ban on LGBT marches and related colourful items, which will be handed over to the Human Rights Committee [of the parliament]’, Papuashvili said.

The legislative proposal has not yet been uploaded to the parliament’s website, and it is currently unknown who submitted it. The parliament's press service told local media that the proposal will likely be uploaded to the website by the end of the day.

In recent years, the ruling party’s stance on diversity issues has become increasingly hostile, aligning with its repressive measures toward critics, independent media, and civil society.

Last year, after passing the controversial foreign agents law, Georgian Dream approved a homophobic legislative package, banning 'LGBT propaganda,' same-sex marriage, and gender-affirming medical treatment.

The ruling party and its affiliates justified the legislation by citing the protection of ‘family values and minors’, a narrative they also used against political opponents during the 2024 pre-election period.

‘LGBT marches’, which the legislative proposal mentioned by Papuashvili calls for banning, have never been held in Georgia, due to the violence from far-right groups and the state’s inaction.

In July 2021, one of the attempts to hold a pride march in central Tbilisi was thwarted by a large-scale violent action organised by the pro-Russian group Alt-Info, during which dozens of journalists on the scene, as well as activists’ offices were targeted.

That day, Georgia’s then-Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the Pride March was backed by ‘radical opposition’. Later, he condemned the violence that had already occurred but noted that the disrupted event was ‘propagandistic’ and that a minority should not decide the fate of the majority.

In the following years, the ruling party’s anti-queer rhetoric became increasingly aggressive, with terms like ‘LGBT propaganda’ becoming a regular part of political leaders’ daily vocabulary.