LGBT rights in Georgia (country)

LGBT rights in Georgia
Georgia
Status	Legal since 2000
Gender identity	Change of legal gender allowed, following sex reassignment surgery
Military	No known policy
Discrimination protections	Yes, for both sexual orientation and gender identity
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	No
Restrictions	Same-sex marriage constitutionally banned
Adoption	No

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Georgia face significant challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Georgia is one of the few post-Soviet states (others being the Baltic states, Moldova, and Ukraine) that directly prohibits discrimination against all LGBT people in legislation, labor-related or otherwise. Since 2012, Georgian law has considered crimes committed on the grounds of one's sexual orientation or gender identity an aggravating factor in prosecution.^[1] The legislative ban on discrimination has been enacted as a part of the Government efforts to bring the country closer to the European Union and make the country's human rights record in line with the demands of Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Despite this, homosexuality is still considered a major deviation from the highly traditional Orthodox Christian values prevalent in the country, where public discussions of sexuality in general tend to be viewed in a highly negative light. Consequently, homosexuals are often targets of abuse and physical violence, often actively encouraged by religious leaders.^[2][3][4]

LGBT events regularly face significant opposition and are often cancelled in the face of violence. LGBT rights activists were unable to hold their events due to violent opposition in 2012, 2013, 2021 and 2023. According to the 2021 International Social Survey Programme (ISSIP) study, 84% of the Georgian public thinks that sexual relations between two adults of the same sex are always wrong, which is the highest score in Europe.^[5] Per World Values Survey study published in 2022, 91% of the Georgian public thinks that homosexuality is not justifiable.^[6]