Kazakhstan's parliament has passed a Russian-style law banning "LGBT propaganda" that would mandate fines or prison sentences for offenders.
The law passed by the lower house of parliament on Wednesday outlaws “propaganda promoting non-traditional sexual values” with fines of around $230 (£175) for a first offence. Under the law, repeat offenders face up to 10 days in prison.
The legislation, resembling laws passed in Russia, Georgia, and Hungary, will be sent to the Kazakh Senate, where it is likely to pass.
The law defines "LGBT propaganda" as "the dissemination of information about a non-traditional sexual orientation … performed in public or via mass media, telecommunications, or online platforms … intended to convince an unspecified group to form a positive public opinion of said practices".
The legislation will amend laws on the rights of the child, mass media, online platforms, advertising, communications, culture, and education, and enable authorities to suspend access to websites and digital content without a court order, rights groups said.
Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, whose signature is necessary for the bill to become law, has in recent months repeatedly stressed the need to uphold what he calls "traditional values".
Lawmakers in parliament, which is controlled by parties loyal to Mr Tokayev, voted unanimously in favour of the ban. Kazakh education minister Gani Beisembayev, speaking in support of the bill, told lawmakers: "Children and teenagers are exposed to information online every day that can negatively impact their ideas about family, morality, and the future."
LGBTQ+ activists in Kazakhstan were reportedly invited to speak at a parliamentary consultation on the legislation, but many claimed the lawmakers used the forum to conflate same-sex relationships and transgender issues with bestiality and child abuse.
Human Rights Watch, along with six other rights groups, pressed the Kazakh lawmakers to reject the legislation, arguing that it would violate fundamental human rights and increase the vulnerability of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and other queer people in the country.
"Discriminatory and rights-violating provisions like those being proposed have no place in any democratic society, which Kazakhstan aspires to be," the rights groups said.
The Belgium-based International Partnership for Human Rights said it would "blatantly violate Kazakhstan's international human rights commitments".
The bill followed a 2024 petition by the Kazakhstan Parents Union, “We Are Against Open and Concealed LGBT Propaganda in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, which drew more than 50,000 signatures.
A majority-Muslim but largely secular country, Kazakhstan legalised homosexuality in the 1990s, though attitudes remain deeply conservative.
