Activist Group Has Enough Signatures for Referendum on Defining Marriage

TBILISI - After validating more than 200,000 signatures gathered by a conservative activist group, Georgia’s Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC) approved a motion to hold a referendum on defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman in Georgian Constitution.

The group wants a referendum to be held simultaneously with parliamentary elections scheduled for October 8.

The conservative group has proposed a single question vote that will ask those going to the polls if they agree that marriage should be defined as a union between a man and woman for the purpose of starting a family.

The CEC registered the request of the group and sent their recommendation to Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili. Following its registration, Margvelashvili has a month to approve the bid, which then has to be approved and signed by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

The idea of constitutionally defining marriage as a union between a man and woman in was first raised by the ruling Georgian Dream coalition. A draft resolution on amending the constitution was not put to a vote in May during its first reading due to a lack of quorum in the parliament.

The referendum issue was met with a lukewarm response by sitting parliamentarians and opposition party leaders. Parties opposed to the Georgian Dream have publicly stated that think the issue was initially raised in order to cover up issues that are plaguing the country and the ruling coalition before the October elections.

The Georgian Dream flatly reject the accusations, saying they fully support the idea of defining marriage along traditional social lines.

The head of Parliament's Human Rights Committee, Eka Beselia, says the issue of clearly defining marriage in the constitution remains too vague to bring to a vote.

“It should be defined in the Constitution that marriage is a voluntary union of a man and woman. This is the position of the current government,” Beselia said.

According to legal expert Vakhushti Menabde, a referendum cannot be held as it contradicts the standards of the Constitution.

“Existing laws strictly forbid referendums to be held with the purpose of changing the constitution. Only the parliament can make amendments to the constitution,” Menabde commented.

According to Article 36 of the Georgian Constitution, marriage is defined as being based on the equality of rights and free will of spouses.

The new proposal offers to replace the term “spouses” with “a man and woman.” However, Georgia’s civil code already specifies that marriage is a “voluntary union of a man and woman”.


By Thea Morrison

Edited by Nicholas Waller