Georgian leader refuses to sign anti-LGBTQ rights bill into law
- 1 October, 09:36
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has refused to sign into law a controversial anti-LGBTQ law approved by the country’s parliament.
The law that was proposed by the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party, imposes sweeping bans on same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples and curbs on gender-affirming treatments. The bill is expected to be signed into law by the parliament’s speaker after the president’s refusal to sign it.
Mirroring a similar legislation imposed in Russia, the law bans Pride events and censors depiction of queer community members in film and books. The law also bans gender-affirming care and changing gender designations in official documents.
Salome Zourabichvili returned the bill to the parliament on Wednesday. “President Zourabichvili refused to sign the bill and returned to parliament without vetoing it,” her spokesperson told AFP news agency.
The controversial law is considered to be aimed at curbing the rights of the LGBTQ community and has caused further tension in the conservative, Orthodox South Caucasus country.
"This law protects the rights of all citizens, including freedom of expression, so that the rights of others are not violated, which is the essence and idea of true democracy," Shalva Papuashvili, Parliament Speaker and a member of the ruling party wrote.
However, the critics of the new law have expressed their concerns over its homophobic nature, with the European Union stating that the bill “undermines fundamental rights of Georgians and risks further stigmatization and discrimination of part of the population”.
By signing the law, Georgian Dream "have taken homophobia to a new level, and that is political and institutional homophobia," said Ana Tavadze, an activist with Tbilisi Pride, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
