Georgia is entering May 17, 2026, as in previous years, amid the neglect of LGBTIQ rights, government incitement of hatred, discriminatory legislation, and political homophobia, according to a statement by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA).

According to GYLA, the LGBTIQ community has become a particular target of government propaganda since 2024. Although even before that LGBTIQ people had to live in an environment of systemic inequality and discrimination, which was also enabled by the state, from 2024 the authorities have proactively begun creating an enemy image of the LGBTIQ community through discriminatory draft laws and legislation and hate-filled rhetoric.

“Still in force is the legislative package adopted in September 2024, which effectively abolishes many fundamental rights, including freedom of expression in both activist, creative, and academic spaces; bans trans-specific healthcare, which puts people’s lives and health at risk; and unjustifiably restricts the freedom of private and family life. These laws are also in contradiction with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, which is why the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has called on the state to repeal them,” the statement says.

According to GYLA, the Georgian Dream party justifies these laws with the aim of protecting families and children. In reality, the legislation harms children as well, leaving them more vulnerable to bullying, hate, and violence. Evidence of its harmful impact on children is also reflected in the 2024 concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which called on Georgia to abandon the then-proposed homophobic/transphobic constitutional draft law, which was substantively identical to the law adopted in September 2024.

The statement also notes that anti-gender rhetoric, which has resulted in the removal of the word “gender” from legislation, negatively affects women’s rights, promotes the establishment of gender roles that increase tolerance toward violence, and creates a basis for ignoring the gender perspective in violence and inequality, as well as disregarding social and cultural factors, making systemic responses to such problems significantly more difficult.

“It is not a coincidence that the intensified attack on the LGBTIQ community coincides with an authoritarian turn and the aggressive adoption of other repressive laws. Beyond the fact that strengthening homophobia and transphobia contradicts human rights law and endangers LGBTIQ people, it also serves as a tool to divert attention from criticism of Georgian Dream over other serious human rights violations, undermines democracy and human rights, and ultimately leaves every individual—regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression—more vulnerable to the regime,” the statement reads.