Georgia
Georgia’s parliament approves law curbing LGBTQ rights
‘Family values’ bill is adopted despite being denounced by the president, rights groups and the European Union.
Georgian politicians have approved the third and final reading of a law on “family values and the protection of minors” that would impose sweeping curbs on LGBTQ rights.
The bill, adopted on Tuesday, would provide a legal basis for authorities to outlaw Pride events and public displays of the LGBTQ rainbow flag, and to impose censorship of films and books.
It also bans gender transition, adoption by gay and transgender people, and nullifies same-sex marriages performed abroad on Georgian territory.
In a vote boycotted by the opposition, politicians from the ruling Georgian Dream voted 84 to 0 to approve the bill along with related amendments to a number of other laws.
Leaders of the governing Georgian Dream party say it is needed to safeguard “traditional moral standards” in Georgia, whose deeply conservative Orthodox Church is highly influential.
Tamara Jakeli, director of the campaign group Tbilisi Pride, said the bill, which also restates an existing ban on same-sex marriage and bans gender reassignment surgery, would likely force her organisation to close its doors.
“This law is the most terrible thing to happen to the LGBT community in Georgia,” Jakeli, 28, told the Reuters news agency. “We will most likely have to shut down. There is no way for us to continue functioning.”
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, whose powers are mostly ceremonial, has been a critic of Georgian Dream and indicated that she will block the bill.
However, Georgian Dream and its allies have enough seats in parliament to override her veto.
LGBTQ rights are a fraught topic in Georgia, where polls show broad disapproval of same-sex relationships, and the constitution bans same-sex marriage.
Participants in Tbilisi’s annual Pride marches have come under physical attack by anti-LGBTQ protesters in recent years.
The issue has become more prominent ahead of the upcoming October 26 election, where Georgian Dream is seeking a fourth term in office and is campaigning heavily against LGBTQ rights.
The governing party, whose top candidate for the election is billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, has deepened ties with neighbouring Russia as relations with Western countries have soured.
Earlier this year, it passed a law on “foreign agents” that European and United States critics said is authoritarian and Russian-inspired. Its passage prompted some of the largest protests that Georgia has seen since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Opinion polls suggest the party, which in 2014 passed a law banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination before later pivoting to more conservative positions, remains Georgia’s most popular, though it has lost ground since 2020, when it won a narrow majority in parliament.
In one governing party advertisement aired on Georgian television, Pride director Jakeli’s face is shown alongside the words: “No to moral degradation”.
The European Union has said the bill’s adoption would have “important repercussions” on EU-hopeful Tbilisi’s European integration path and “will place further strain on EU-Georgia relations”.
“The EU recalls that Georgia’s accession process is de facto halted and urges the authorities to recommit to the EU integration path,” the EU has said.
Georgia baseball players were setting up to take a photo in front of the Foley Field scoreboard with an “OmaDawgs,” graphic on it when fans in the standing room seats and on Kudzu Hill in right field serenaded the team.
“Oh-Ma-Ha! Oh-Ma-Ha!”
It was a moment that a Bulldog team had not experienced for 18 years.
David Perno, the Georgia coach for that 2008 team, and his star player, Gordon Beckham, were in the house on a day the Bulldogs clinched an 11-9 victory over Mississippi State that sent them to Omaha.
The game on Sunday, June 7, took four hours and 14 minutes and wasn’t decided until the 10th inning with two runners on when Justin Byrd struck out Jacob Parker swinging on a 1-2 pitch.
“Kind of just willing it to happen,” catcher Daniel Jackson said. “The second it hit my glove, just knowing it was over, was an incredible feeling.”
Georgia, now 51-12, celebrated. They are used to it after soaking up SEC regular season, SEC tournament and NCAA regional titles this season.
A few Georgia players even jumped up to sit on the center field fence.
Coach Wes Johnson shared a long embrace and then a kiss with his wife, Angie, near the Georgia dugout.
The former Minnesota Twins pitching coach was emotional in the postgame press conference, too, when he said how much making it to the College World Series in his third season means.
“People don’t understand the sacrifices you make to do that,” he said. “The birthdays you miss, anniversaries. A lot.”
Johnson took over a Georgia program that went 0-for-5 in regionals in 2009, 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2022, until his first team featuring Charlie Condon got to a super regional in 2024.
After the win Sunday, Johnson’s voice was cracking when he mentioned Condon sticking with Georgia after he arrived.
“Could have left, didn’t, helped us build this thing,” Johnson, wearing a super regional champions cap, said.
N.C. State stopped them in three games in 2024 to end their season one game short of the CWS.
Georgia then was bounced in the regionals a year ago, again as a national seed.
This one came just over three years after Georgia hired Johnson.
“We think we found the leader to take us to the next level in baseball,” athletic director Josh Brooks said at Johnson’s introductory press conference.
Johnson was on the way then to Omaha where LSU won the College World Series.
“That’s something I want to do here as well,” he said then.
His team now is headed there for just the seventh time in program history.
Johson also went to the CWS with Arkansas in 2018 when the Razorbacks reached the finals.
Georgia will head to Omaha as the highest remaining national seed at No.3 with the momentum that comes with going 8-0 in the postseason, starting with the SEC Tournament.
It will play on the biggest stage in college baseball, but the Bulldogs weren’t ready to turn the page quite yet.
“We’ll soak it in for about 12 to 24 hours and then get right back to the grind,” said Jackson, whose 31st homer of the season, a two-run shot over the fence in left field in the 10th inning, broke a tie game.
An hour after the game ended, Byrd and first baseman Bryce Calloway were among players still in uniform on the field soaking up the super regional title with their families.
Branch, one of the four players that have been with Johnson for all three of his Georgia seasons. went from the postgame press conference to the field and was handed the Super Regional trophy that the Bulldogs earned by winning the series 2-0.
“I truly do go home thinking about Omaha and think about going to that place and taking Georgia back to this place,” Branch said, “and securing the legacy that Georgia needs to have in Omaha.”
Georgia is the third-largest state by population, yet it has no regulated real-money online casinos. There are no licensed Georgia online casinos, and legalization is not on the immediate horizon. So how can you actually play online? Sweepstakes and social casinos are the answer.
These platforms let you play slots and table-style games using Gold Coins for fun and Sweeps Coins that can be redeemed for cash prizes once you meet the site’s requirements. No purchase is required to play or redeem prizes, and every platform on this list is currently available to players in Georgia. Here are the best Georgia online casino-style sites worth signing up for in June 2026.
5 Best Georgia Online Casinos in June 2026
1. Crown Coins Casino — Best Overall
Crown Coins is the most consistent platform on this list of Georgia online casinos. The first-purchase bonus gets you up to 1.5 million Crown Coins and 75 free Sweeps Coins, which is competitive, but the reason it ranks first has less to do with your first day than with what happens after. The daily bonus schedule runs like clockwork, weekly events stay consistent and the Sweeps Coins opportunities do not dry up once the welcome window closes.
A 1x playthrough means your SC balance is not buried behind layers of requirements before you can redeem. For Georgia players who want reliability over flash, Crown Coins is the platform that delivers week after week.
2. Mega Bonanza — Best for Daily Value
Mega Bonanza is not trying to win you over with one big signup splash. The first-purchase deal is $9.99 for up to 50,000 Gold Coins and 25 free SC — respectable, but not the biggest number on this page. What earns it a spot is the daily rhythm. The login streak system builds through the week, and by Day 7 the SC accumulation is meaningfully better than what most competitors offer for the same commitment.
Seasonal promotions drop regularly with packages that outperform the standard coin store pricing. Think of it as the online casino Georgia platform you pair with your primary pick to keep your daily SC intake high.
3. Jackpota — Best for Jackpot Slots
Jackpota focuses on one thing and does it well: jackpot-forward slot play. The no-purchase signup bonus lands 7,500 Gold Coins and 2.5 free Sweeps Coins in your account immediately, and the $19.99 first-purchase package adds 80,000 Gold Coins, 40 Sweeps Coins and 75 free SC spins.
Its 1,500-plus game lobby leans hard into jackpot titles from Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming and BGaming. Playthrough is 1x on Sweeps Coins, and the cash redemption minimum sits at 75 SC — both on the player-friendly end of the spectrum. No VIP program yet, but the daily 1,500 GC and 0.2 SC login bonus keeps things moving.
4. McLuck Casino — Best Game Library
If you want the most games and the most action among legal Georgia online casinos, McLuck is where you go. The 500 free SC plus 60 extra SC on signup is the biggest no-purchase SC haul on this list, and the game library behind it is massive. Bonus drops land throughout the week tied to specific slots or categories, redemptions process faster than average and the mobile app works well — which is not something you can say about every sweepstakes platform.
McLuck is built for players who want to open the app, find something new and stay engaged without waiting around for the next promotional window.
5. WOW Vegas — Best for Slots
WOW Vegas has the deepest slot library in the Georgia online casino space — over 1,500 titles from NetEnt, Big Time Gaming, BGaming and others. The welcome bonus rolls out over three days: 250,000 WOW Coins and 5 free Sweeps Coins total, no purchase needed. If you decide to buy in, $9.99 gets you 1.5 million WOW Coins and 30 SC on your first purchase.
The daily login bonus adds 0.3 SC and 1,500 WOW Coins every 24 hours. Redemptions start at 50 SC for cash prizes, which is lower than the 100 SC threshold you will see at some competitors. For a Georgia player who primarily wants to spin slots, WOW Vegas is the strongest option available.
Are Real-Money Georgia Online Casinos Legal?
No. Georgia has some of the strictest gambling laws in the country. O.C.G.A. Title 16, Chapter 12 defines gambling broadly and classifies commercial gambling as a felony. The state constitution explicitly prohibits casinos and requires voter approval through a constitutional amendment for any gambling expansion — a two-thirds supermajority in the legislature followed by a statewide referendum.
The only legal gambling in Georgia is the state lottery, charitable bingo and certain coin-operated amusement machines. There are no tribal casinos, no commercial casinos, no legal sportsbooks and no licensed online gambling of any kind.
Georgia lawmakers have tried repeatedly to change that. House Resolution 450, which proposed a constitutional amendment to authorize sports betting, came to the House floor on Crossover Day in March 2026 but failed to secure the two-thirds vote needed to advance. House Bill 910, which attempted to classify sports betting as a lottery product under the Georgia Lottery Corporation, also carried over from 2025 but did not pass.
As of June 2026, no gambling expansion bill has advanced far enough to put legal Georgia online casinos or sportsbooks on the near-term horizon, and any renewed push would likely come in a future legislative session.
Georgia law provides that promotional and giveaway contests that meet the state’s lawful promotion standards are not classified as illegal gambling. Because sweepstakes casinos are structured so that no purchase is necessary to play or win, they avoid the “consideration” element that would trigger Georgia’s gambling prohibitions. Every platform on this list uses that model and is currently available to Georgia residents.
How to Sign Up for Georgia Online Casinos
Tap PLAY NOW on any Georgia online casino platform above to get started. Pick a screen name, set a password, enter your email and fill in your home address, phone number and date of birth. The whole process takes a couple of minutes, and your welcome bonus lands in your account as soon as registration is complete.
The Georgia Bulldogs defeated Mississippi State by a final score of 13-12 during game one of the Athens Super Regional. The slugfest quickly became one of the best games throughout all of college baseball this season, and Georgia was able to secure a win in a critical game one against the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s resiliency was on display against Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon. The Dawgs were able to battle back from an early 7-0 deficit, as Mississippi State was firing on all cylinders offensively over the first few innings of play. Georgia as a whole recorded an impressive 16 hits while putting up 13 total runs in the victory, and a win against Mississippi State on Sunday will punch the Bulldogs’ ticket to the College World Series in Ohama, Nebraska. If Georgia loses on Sunday, then Georgia and Mississippi State will compete on Monday in a winner-take-all Game 3 with a trip to the College World Series on the line.
Georgia third baseman Michael O’Shaughnessy was the clear X-factor in the Dawgs’ lineup on Saturday afternoon. The talented senior went 2-for-5 with five RBI’s in the win, including two towering home runs in the fifth and eighth inning. O’Shaughnessy’s eighth inning solo shot ultimately gave Georgia a 13-12 lead, and the third baseman was able to secure the win for the Bulldogs in what was an elite offensive showing at the plate.
“I think that game will go down as an instant classic,” Georgia baseball manager Wes Johnson said after the game. “It was a fun ballgame to be a part of. We can stand up here for a long time and go back through a lot of plays. I want to tip my hat to Joey (Volchko). I thought he was just went out there and continued to compete after having a tough inning. I thought that was huge for us. Obviously, then we had some guys on the mound that came in and missed some spots. The ball was flying today, and it was evident, with 11 homers.”
Georgia will face Mississippi State for Game 2 of the Athens Super Regional on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. ET, as the Bulldogs will look to punch their ticket to the College World Series for the first time in over a decade. Georgia will return star infielder Tre Phelps for Game 2 after he served a suspension for Game 1.
Follow UGA Wire on Instagram, Facebook, X or Threads for more Georgia baseball coverage!
-
Maine6 minutes agoHeat, humidity on the rise across Maine ahead of showers, potential storms late this week
-
Maryland9 minutes agoAfter raft of appointments, District 16 voters will finally get their say
-
Michigan14 minutes agoCan Michigan tenants withhold rent if a landlord won’t make repairs?
-
Massachusetts21 minutes agoBeacon Hill Roll Call: House, Senate approve $1.35B fiscal 26 supplemental budget
-
Minnesota24 minutes agoGas Prices In Minnesota Drop To $3.96, Down 15.9 Cents This Week
-
Mississippi29 minutes agoSunday Conversation: Mississippi State’s Abby Grace Richardson
-
Missouri36 minutes agoMissouri governor names five members to state boards and panels
-
Montana39 minutes ago
Montana Lottery Big Sky Bonus, Millionaire for Life results for June 7, 2026
