The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, the Education, Science, and Youth Affairs Committee, the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee, and the Health Care and Social Issues Committee held a joint session to review the draft law on Family Values and the Protection of Minors and the associated package of bills during its first reading.

Before presenting the bills, the session's moderator, Givi Mikanadze, Chairman of the Education, Science, and Youth Affairs Committee, noted that the opposition mostly did not attend the discussion.

"I want to emphasize that the opposition clearly expresses its position to the public, either opposing this legislation or avoiding the responsibility of participating in substantive discussions on the issue”, - Givi Mikanadze stated.

The legislative package was presented in general terms by Rati Ionatamishvili, Chairman of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee and one of the initiators of the bills.

As the presenter stated, the draft law on Family Values and the Protection of Minors aims to strengthen the mechanisms for protecting family values based on the union of a man and a woman, as well as the protection of minors.

"This initiative is meant to reinforce a moral standard. By doing so, we are fulfilling the public's demand and considering their interests. This is an issue on which there is societal consensus to provide a legislative framework based on principles of justice. One significant expression of this was on May 17th of this year, when hundreds of thousands of Georgians, citizens of our country, came out in Tbilisi and the regions to defend family traditions and values. As the Speaker of Parliament rightly noted on that day, it was a kind of referendum, and fulfilling this demand is part of our duty and responsibility”, - Rati Ionatamishvili stated.

According to the main essence of the draft law, to strengthen the protection mechanisms for family values based on the union of a man and a woman and for the protection of minors, the bill addresses issues related to marriage, adoption, and foster care of minors, medical procedures for gender reassignment, indication of gender in state-issued documents, education, dissemination of information, public assembly and manifestation, and disregard of biological sex in the context of labor relations.

"In Georgia, family values based on the union of a man and a woman are recognized. These values are reinforced by the constitutional agreement between the state of Georgia and the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which associates family creation with the sacrament of marriage. The preservation and protection of these values were further reinforced by the 2017 constitutional amendment, which states that marriage is only the union of a man and a woman for the purpose of starting a family. This issue is closely related to the best interests of minors, for whose protection the Child Rights Code and other legislative acts have been adopted”, - Rati Ionatamishvili noted.

He mentioned that despite the existing legislative acts, LGBT propaganda, and propaganda against family values based on the union of a man and a woman remain significant challenges not only for Georgia but for other countries as well. Therefore, it has become necessary to strengthen the mechanisms for protecting family values and the best interests of minors, which the proposed draft law aims to achieve.

The presenter noted that the draft law also seeks to eliminate risks associated with the future propaganda of incest.

He emphasized that the fundamental rights of every individual are recognized and protected by the Georgian Constitution and other legislative acts, regardless of a person's lifestyle. Consequently, the proposed draft law does not intend to disregard any of these fundamental rights.

According to Rati Ionatamishvili, this initiative is also in line with the process of discussing the proposed constitutional law.

He mentioned that the meetings held by the group for public discussions were attended by citizens supporting various political groups, who expressed consensus on the issue.

"It is unfortunate that this political consensus is not reflected at the level of political parties, meaning that opposition parties do not represent the interests of their voters. The public should respond to this, but when they do not attend the sessions, do not participate in the discussions at the level of principles, and do not express their position, it means they do not represent the interests of their voters in Parliament or in general political activity. I believe this is the basis for the verdict voters deliver to political parties in elections”, - Rati Ionatamishvili added.

During the session, the discussion of the legislative package continued in a Q&A format, involving members of Parliament and other interested parties.

The amendments arising from the enforcement mechanisms of the draft law affect 18 existing laws.

All four committees unanimously supported the submission of the legislative package for the first reading at the plenary session.

The initiators of the draft law are Members of Parliament: Shalva Papuashvili, Mamuka Mdinaradze, Anri Okhanashvili, Rati Ionatamishvili, Maka Botchorishvili, David Matikashvili, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Irakli Shatakishvili, and Sozar Subari.