(LifeSiteNews) — A majority of the 150 Georgia parliament members in a country that borders Russia to the south have thumbed their nose at the pro-homosexual West by taking a bold stand for traditional family values.
On Tuesday, the roughly 90 percent Orthodox nation’s lawmakers defied EU pressure and adopted the Family Values bill on September 17 in an 84-0 vote. The ruling Georgian Dream party provided the necessary votes for the bill, which mirrors a similar measure passed in Russia several years ago.
Among other things, the legislation allows for the banning of public displays of so-called “Pride” events, including annual marches, as well as the legal censuring of trans and other deviant sexual behaviors in films and books. The country’s civil code had already defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
The vote was boycotted by the Western-backed opposition party. A small number of pro-LGBT protesters held signs outside as lawmakers cast their votes.
“The EU recalls that Georgia’s accession process is de facto halted and urges the authorities to recommit to the EU integration path,” the European Union said in response to the bill’s passage.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has reportedly indicated that she will sign the bill, and Georgian Dream has enough support to override her if she vetoes instead. As it is, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who has increasingly aligned himself with Russia, is expected by some to sign the bill into law in Zourabichvili’s place. Elections in the country are scheduled for October.
The bill’s approval is significant in that it is the latest sign that Georgia is not going to throw its lot in with the West, which has repeatedly attempted to entice it to join its ranks for many years, sometimes with force. In 2003, the country experienced the CIA-backed Rose Revolution.
In June, the country’s Parliament notably approved a common sense “foreign influence” law that requires non-governmental organizations and media groups receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from outside parties to register with the government.
Thousands of protesters flooded the streets in response, prompting geopolitical analysts to question whether another U.S.-backed Color Revolution was afoot. USAID administrator Samantha Powers had previously attacked the bill in 2023.
Good news ➡️ the Georgian government intends to withdraw proposed “foreign agent” laws that would have made it difficult for NGOs & media to operate. The people of Georgia made clear they want a country with free expression, a free press, & a path to Euro-Atlantic integration.
— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) March 9, 2023
In response to the Family Values bill’s passage, top European Union diplomat Josep Borrell expressed his frustration in an X post. He claimed that the measure will “undermine the fundamental rights of the people and increase discrimination & stigmatization.” He also said it is “further derailing the country from its EU path.”
The Georgian Parliament adopted laws on ‘family values and protection of minors’ which will undermine the fundamental rights of the people and increase discrimination & stigmatisation.
I call on Georgia to withdraw this legislation, further derailing the country from its EU path.— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 18, 2024
Prime Minister Kobakhidze met with U.S. Ambassador Robin Dunnigan on Tuesday after the U.S. placed sanctions on more than 60 Georgians, including two government officials who the U.S. said had “undermined” democracy.
A statement released by his office said Kobakhidze warned Dunnigan that “if one more such step is taken, this might lead to a revision of Georgia’s stance on U.S.-Georgian relations.”
As a sign of just how partisan the rancor has become in the country, Radio Free Europe has reported that President Zourabishvili has characterized the October elections as a choice between “being Russia’s slave or cooperation with Europe.”