Kazakhstan Takes Lead From Russia – Bans ‘LGBTQ Propaganda’
Harassment, discrimination, and the threat of violence already color queer life in Kazakhstan – it could get worse.
Featured Image: IBHR – Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
On Wednesday, Kazakhstan’s lower parliament proposed anti-LGBTQ legislation to “protect children from content harmful to their health and development.” The move is widely seen as similar to Russia’s 2022 ban on what it calls LGBTQ “propaganda,” which cracked down on what was described as “praising” gay relationships or publicly suggesting that they are “normal” – all viewed as promoting homosexual lifestyles. Russia also prohibits what it calls “propaganda” of pedophilia and gender reassignment in films, books and advertising.
Current Russian legislation was inspired by a 2013 ban on “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” among minors; in 2022, it was expanded to include adults. Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but homophobia has remained deeply rooted. Coincidentally (or not), Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with Putin in Moscow this week.
In a press statement from the lower house, Kazakhstan described the new measures as prohibiting the “dissemination of information containing propaganda of pedophilia and/or non-traditional sexual orientation” in public spaces, through media or online.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch, along with six other human rights groups, issued a statement in advance of the parliamentary vote: “If adopted, the proposed amendments to a draft law on archival affairs would violate fundamental human rights and increase the vulnerability of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and other queer people (LGBTIQ+) in Kazakhstan.”
HRW wrote that adopting a “LGBT propaganda ban” would blatantly violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments, including children’s rights to education, health, and information. “Discriminatory and rights-violating provisions like those being proposed have no place in any democratic society, which Kazakhstan aspires to be.”
The organization has previously reported on the vulnerability of LGBTQ+ individuals in Kazakhstan, citing a climate of fear. “Harassment, discrimination, and the threat of violence color the everyday lives of LGBT people in Kazakhstan.”
Mary Struthers, with Amnesty International, has also released a statement: “Banning so-called “LGBTI Propaganda” is not about protecting children, it’s about institutionalizing stigma, fear and censorship.”
To become law, the bill must be approved by the Senate (the upper house of parliament), then signed by Kazakhstan’s president.
