LGBT rights in Georgia (country)
- This article is about LGBT rights in the country of Georgia. For LGBT rights in the U.S. state of Georgia, see LGBT rights in the United States.
LGBT rights in Georgia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Legal since 2000[1] |
| Gender identity | - |
| Military | Unknown if gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protection in labor code since 2006 |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships | No recognition of same-sex relationships |
| Adoption | - |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Georgia may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Georgia, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.[1]
Law regarding same-sex sexual activity
Homosexuality (adult male only) was criminalised by Joseph Stalin in 1933 and it is likely that many of those prosecuted under the article were sent to Siberian concentration camps. The article was also used by Soviet authorities against dissident movements, with many activists being arrested on trumped-up sodomy charges. After Georgia obtained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, this practice fell out of use and there are no recorded cases of sodomy article being openly used against political opponents ever since.
Same-sex sexual activity became legal in Georgia after the adoption of a new criminal code in 2000, which the government put in place to meet the standards set forth by the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights.[1] The age of consent is equal for both heterosexual and homosexual sex, at 16 years of age as set by the Georgian Penal Code Articles 140 and 141.[2]
Social attitude
According to social attitude questionnaires, homosexuals remained one of the most disliked groups in society - with most respondents preferring an alcoholic rather than homosexual colleague at work. Conspiracy theories flooded the Georgian press warning the public against the prederast's mafia. The only LGBT group in Georgia published Me Magazine after 2006 in order to provide a better balance of LGBT issues in the media. However, the wider Georgian media generally censors the topic of homosexuality. In October 2007 one of the contestants on the reality TV show Bar-4 outed himself on public television. After the reported intervention of the Georgian president and Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia the contestant was evicted from the programme[3].
Gender identity/expression
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2009) |
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Georgia does not legally recognize same-sex unions.
Adoption
Same-sex couples are not able to adopt children in Georgia.
Discrimination protections
Since 2006, as part of the new Labor Code, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal in employment. This, however, only means that an employer will not be able to openly relieve a homosexual employee of duties.
See also
References
- ^ a b c "State-sponsored Homophobia: A world survey of laws prohibiting same sex activity between consenting adults" (PDF).
- ^ Report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by Georgia - A report prepared for the Committee on the Rights of Child 34th Session – Geneva, September 2003 Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved. June 25, 2011.
- ^ Chuck Stewart, 'The Greenwood Encyclopaedia of LGBT issues worldwide, 2010
