President.ge, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Georgian lawmakers have passed the final reading of a law on “family values and the protection of minors,” introducing broad restrictions on LGBT rights.
The bill would give authorities in Georgia the legal power to ban Pride events, and public displays of the LGBT rainbow flag, and enforce censorship on films and books.
The bill also restates an existing ban on same-s+x marriage and bans gender reassignment surgery in the European country, according to CNN.
Leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party say it is needed to safeguard traditional moral standards in Georgia, whose deeply conservative Orthodox Church is highly influential.
The anti-LGBTQ+ bill was approved on its third and final reading, with 84 of 150 lawmakers voting for it. It now must be signed by President Salome Zourabichvili, who has been at odds with the ruling party.
She can veto the bill but the parliament, dominated by Georgian Dream, can override her and adopt the legislation regardless.
