“When they are going village-to-village and describing this kind of constitutional amendment, it is increasing the level of homophobia.” “What I can say myself, as a gay man, is that their campaign is reinforcing negative stereotypes and raising homophobic feedback,” Gabadadze said.
The chairman of the parliament is afraid to admit that they are homophobic and are trying to pass homophobic laws.”Īn LGBT activist speaks behind two police at a May 17 rally in Georgia. “Georgian Dream includes conservative politicians who are homophobic themselves. “It’s political homophobia itself,” Gabadadze told RFE/RL. “Accordingly, this amendment won’t become grounds for discrimination.”īut Beka Gabadadze, a gay rights activist with the Tbilisi-based LGBTQI Association Temida, says Georgian Dream lawmakers are responsible for stirring up homophobia by campaigning for the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. “We do respect the rights and interests of every group, including minorities,” Kobakhidze told the committee on June 8. Kobakhidze made the remarks in testimony to Georgia’s parliamentary committee for human rights and civil integration. In most countries, opponents of same-sex marriage base their arguments on religious doctrine, tradition, parenting concerns, or moral arguments.īut Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgia’s parliamentary speaker and head of the state constitutional commission, says Georgian Dream mainly wants to amend the constitution’s definition of marriage to prevent “certain groups” from stirring up homophobic and anti-Western sentiment. Tbilisi’s ruling Georgian Dream party has taken a curious position to justify its proposal for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the former Soviet republic.