Kazakhstan’s lower house passes law banning LGBT propaganda, with fines and up to 10 days jail for repeat offenders, mirroring Russian legislation
ASTANA: Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament has passed legislation banning “LGBT propaganda” in online content and media.
The law imposes fines for violators and up to 10 days imprisonment for repeat offenders.
This legislation closely resembles similar laws previously enacted in Russia, Georgia and Hungary.
The bill will now proceed to the Kazakh senate, where approval is considered likely.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s signature is required for the bill to become law.
Tokayev has repeatedly emphasised the need to uphold what he calls “traditional values” in recent months.
Lawmakers in the parliament, controlled by parties loyal to the president, voted unanimously for the ban.
Rights groups had warned against passing the controversial legislation.
The Belgium-based International Partnership for Human Rights said it would “blatantly violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments”.
Kazakhstan is a majority-Muslim but largely secular country that legalised homosexuality in the 1990s.
Social attitudes toward LGBT issues remain deeply conservative despite legalisation.
Education Minister Gani Beisembayev voiced support for the bill during parliamentary debate.
“Children and teenagers are exposed to information online every day that can negatively impact their ideas about family, morality, and the future,” Beisembayev told lawmakers. – Reuters
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