Anti-Same Sex Marriage Bill Passed by the Parliament of Georgia

The Parliament of Georgia supported the creation of a special commission, which during the month will be engaged in a public discussion of the constitutional draft amendment on the definition of marriage, reports Interfax-Religion.

According to the bill, the first paragraph of Art. 36 of the Constitution of Georgia should be worded as follows: "Marriage, which is a voluntary union between a man and a woman to create a family, based on legal equality."

In the current edition of the Constitution it says that "marriage is based on the legal equality of the spouses and goodwill." The Civil Code specifies that marriage is "the voluntary union of a woman and a man" that prohibits marriage between persons of the same sex.

As stated in the explanatory note to the bill, despite the fact that the article of the Civil Code mentioned does not contradict the constitutional norm, "in order to avoid misinterpretation," it is expedient that the Constitution should provide " clearer and more precise definition, removing questions and concerns among a large part of society relating to the clear definition of marriage and the family in the Constitution and the Civil Code."

The lawmakers who speak strongly in favor of anti-same-sex-marriage legislation are the ruling parliamentary faction "Georgian Dream", "Georgian Dream - Conservatives", "Georgian Dream - Industrialists" and "Georgian Dream - National Forum".

Commission of 15 members is headed by Vice-Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Manana Kobakhidze.

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