ASTANA (Reuters) -The lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday banning “LGBT propaganda” online or in the media, mandating fines for violators and up to 10 days in jail for repeat offenders.
The legislation resembles laws passed in countries including Russia, Georgia and Hungary. It will now be sent to the Kazakh senate, where it is likely to pass.
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 Tokayev, voted unanimously in favour of the ban.
Rights groups had warned against passing the bill. The Belgium-based International Partnership for Human Rights said it would “blatantly violate Kazakhstan’s international human rights commitments”.
A majority-Muslim but largely secular country, Kazakhstan legalised homosexuality in the 1990s, though attitudes remain deeply conservative.
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.”
(Reporting by Tamara Vaal in Astana and Mariya Gordeyeva in Almaty; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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