**Georgian Dream Introduces Bill to Remove “Gender” from Legislation**
The ruling Georgian Dream party has introduced a legislative package that aims to remove the terms “gender” and “gender identity” from all Georgian legislation. The bill, presented on February 24, also seeks to rename the “Law on Gender Equality” as the “Law on Equality between Women and Men”.
**Claims of “Artificially Created Term”**
According to the explanatory note, gender is considered an “artificially created term”. The document claims that discussions about the dishonest motives behind this concept have increased since Donald Trump’s presidency. The authors argue that removing the term “gender” from legislation will help reinforce equality between men and women as recognized by the Constitution of Georgia.
**Liquidating Gender Equality Council**
The proposed amendments aim to liquidate the Parliament’s Gender Equality Council. The state budget had allocated 50 thousand GEL for gender-related work, which will now be redirected through other parliamentary committees and structures to focus on “equality issues between women and men”. Similarly, the bill proposes abolishing Gender Equality Councils in Georgia’s Autonomous Republics and municipalities.
**MPs Behind the Bill**
The draft law is initiated by MPs from Georgian Dream and the pseudo-opposition People’s Power. The authors include Archil Gorduladze, Tornike Cheishvili, Rati Ionatamishvili, Davit Matikashvili, Guram Macharashvili, Alexandre Tabatadze, Tengiz Sharmanashvili, Aluda Ghudushauri, Viktor Japaridze, Sozar Subari, Nodar Turdzeladze, Irma Zavradashvili, Levan Machavariani, Ramina Beradze, Irakli Kirtskhalia, Salome Jinjolava, Tornike Berekashvili, Genrieta Tsitsava, and Mamuka Mdinaradze.
**”Foreign Agents Registration Act” Also Introduced**
On the same day, Georgian Dream introduced another legislative initiative – the “Foreign Agents Registration Act”. This bill is an exact copy of a US law and aims to register non-governmental organizations that receive foreign funding.
