Kazakhstan shelves anti-LGBTQ+ bill for additional study
Kazakhstan Senate stalls bill that lower house approved unanimously.
An anti-LGBTQ+ bill has stalled in Kazakhstan, but apparently not because Kazakh legislators are concerned about LGBTQ+ rights.
The bill had unanimously passed the lower chamber of parliament on Nov. 12, but the Senate announced the bill had been postponed “indefinitely” in order to focus on how it would affect children’s rights and other laws.
“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. 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,” the Senate press service stated.
The bill would ban “‘LGBT propaganda’ online or in the media” with “fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.”
The Irish LGBTQ+ publication GCN reported:
Although Kazakhstan is technically a secular nation with a Muslim-majority, the government is strongly conservative. It has consistently upheld anti-LGBTQ+ laws and labelled LGBTQ+ relations as harmful to “traditional” Kazakh values.
Kazakh Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev expressed her support for the anti-LGBTQ+ bill with a statement that read: “Children and teenagers are exposed to information online every day that can negatively impact their ideas about family, morality, and the future.”
If passed, the former Soviet nation would follow in the footsteps of Russia, which introduced a ban on “LGBTQ+ propaganda” in 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised the importance of the measure to sustain “traditional values” in the country.
Although the anti-LGBTQ+ bill has been postponed for now, it is clear that the ban has support from the majority of the parliament and from [President Kassym-Jomart] Tokayev.
The Washington Blade noted that Russia, Georgia, and Hungary are among the other countries with anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws.
