On March 25, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the Georgian Dream parliamentary majority, presented a draft constitutional law on the “protection of family values and underaged persons.”
At the briefing, held at the office of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Mdinaradze outlined the proposed tenets of the draft law.
- The legislation regulates only a relationship similar to marriage, which provides for the union of a genetically male and a genetically female who are at least 18 years old;
- Adoption or fostering of a minor is allowed only by spouses married in accordance with the Constitution and laws of Georgia or by a heterosexual person;
- Any medical intervention related to changing a person’s sex is prohibited;
- The document issued by the state or local self-government shall indicate only the female or male sex corresponding to his/her genetics;
- Any decision by a public authority or individual person that directly or indirectly restricts the use of terms defined by gender is null and void;
- Gatherings aimed at popularizing same-sex family or intimate relationships, incest, adoption or foster care of a minor by a same-sex couple or a non-heterosexual person, medical interventions related to gender reassignment, or the non-use of gender-specific terminology are prohibited;
- Distributing a work, program, or other material with content aimed at popularizing same-sex family or intimate relationships, incest, adoption or foster care of a minor by a same-sex couple or non-heterosexual person, medical intervention related to gender reassignment, or non-use of gender-specific terminology is prohibited;
- Providing information in the educational process of a public or private educational institution aimed at popularizing same-sex family or intimate relationships, incest, adoption or foster care of a minor by a same-sex couple or non-heterosexual person, medical intervention related to gender reassignment, or the non-use of gender concepts is prohibited.
According to Mdinaradze, after the adoption of this constitutional law, the Parliament will also vote on the amendment of Article 30 of the Georgian Constitution, which defines for marriage rights and the rights of the mother and children. According to Mdinaradze, an additional part of the article will define that “the protection of family values and underaged persons will be ensured by the constitutional law,” referring to the above-mentioned law.
According to Mdinaradze, the ruling party believes that the opposition will not vote for the constitutional amendment and the constitutional law, although he added that the majority hopes that they will be adopted after the October elections, at the next convocation of Parliament.
The announcement of plans for constitutional legislation to protect family values and the rights of minors comes weeks after Mdinaradze announced the ruling majority’s intention to draft what he called an “anti-LGBT propaganda” law. In response to criticism that such a law would violate the Constitution, the ruling majority had announced that it wouldn’t draft the anti-constitutional law, and instead announced today the plans to amend the Constitution itself.
Constitutional laws are an integral part of the Georgian Constitution, although they are not directly included in the text of the Constitution. In order to adopt such a law, 3/4 (113 votes) of the deputies must vote in its favor.
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