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Kazakhstan

Kazakh Senate tables anti-LGBTQ propaganda bill

Lawmakers say they need more time to consider proposal

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Kazakh flag (Photo by misima/Bigstock)

The Kazakh Senate has tabled a vote on a bill that would ban so-called LGBTQ propaganda in the country.

Members of Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament last month unanimously approved the measure that would ban “‘LGBT propaganda’ online or in the media” with “fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.” The Kazakh Telegraph Agency, an independent news organization, reported the Senate in a statement said senators needed more time to consider the measure.

“It is important to note that the law introduces amendments and additions to the Labor Code of Kazakhstan as well as to 12 other laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is a significant amount of work and requires additional time,” reads the statement. “Moreover, given that the law also regulates issues related to the protection of children’s rights, this is always a matter requiring special consideration and increased attention … “

Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic in Central Asia that borders Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.

Russia, Georgia, and Hungary are among the other countries with anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws.

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Kazakhstan

Kazakh lawmakers advance anti-LGBTQ propaganda bill

Measure likely to pass in country’s Senate

Published

on

Kazakh flag (Photo by misima/Bigstock)

Lawmakers in Kazakhstan on Wednesday advanced a bill that would ban so-called LGBTQ propaganda in the country.

Reuters notes the measure, which members of the country’s lower house of parliament unanimously approved, would ban “‘LGBT propaganda’ online or in the media” with “fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.”

The bill now goes to the Kazakh Senate.

Reuters reported senators will likely support the measure. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has also indicated he would sign it.

Kazakhstan is a predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic in Central Asia that borders Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations are decriminalized in Kazakhstan, but the State Department’s 2023 human rights report notes human rights activists have “reported threats of violence and significant online and in-person verbal abuse towards LGBTQI+ individuals.” The document also indicates discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains commonplace in the country. (Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights under the Biden-Harris administration who co-founded the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice, in August condemned the current White House for the “deliberate erasure” of LGBTQ and intersex people from the State Department’s 2024 human rights report.)

Russia, Georgia, and Hungary are among the other countries with propaganda laws.

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