Georgia’s president returns bill curbing LGBTQ+ rights to parliament without signature

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday returned a bill on curbing LGBTQ+ rights to parliament, which it had approved last month.

Multiple local media outlets, including public broadcaster 1TV, reported that Zourabichvili neither signed nor vetoed the bill, submitting the bill back to the parliament.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili can legally sign the bill into law.

In September, lawmakers voted in support of the bill, Protection of Family Values and Minors, in its third and final reading with 84 votes in favor and none against.

The bill, submitted to parliament in June, will give legal basis for the ban on issues including LGBTQ+ gatherings, same-sex marriage and gender reassignment surgery.

The legislation shall also ban the public display of the LGBTQ+ flag, and introduce censorship in the media.

The majority of the opposition did not attend the session over its boycott of parliamentary work following the adoption of the controversial Transparency of Foreign Influence law, which has been criticized by the U.S. and European countries.

The bill's adoption comes ahead of the Oct. 26. parliamentary elections, in which the Georgian Dream party seeks a fourth term.