Human Rights Groups Urge Kazakhstan’s Parliament to Reject Anti-LGBTQ+ Amendments

The organizations called on parliament not to adopt amendments that they believe violate freedom of expression and increase discrimination, Orda.kz reports.

Seven international human rights organizations have urged the Kazakh parliament to reject a bill banning "propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation."

Signatories include Human Rights Watch, Civil Rights Defenders, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and others.

They argue that the amendments threaten freedom of speech and violate the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

The proposed propaganda-related provisions are completely unrelated to archival affairs and were included after a first draft of the archival affairs bill had already been approved by the lower house in its first reading on September 17, 2025,
 human rights activists believe.

According to the organizations, the proposed wording closely mirrors the 2013 Russian law.

It defines any dissemination of information about non-traditional sexual orientation among an unspecified group of people, even in distorted form, as propaganda if the goal is to create a positive image.

As such, publishing any information about LGBTIQ+ topics or expressing support for people identifying as LGBTIQ+ under the proposed amendments could potentially lead to administrative charges,
 the statement says.

The amendments were proposed by 15 deputies and supported by the ministries of culture and information, internal affairs, health, education, and the government. Yelnur Beisenbayev of the Amanat party moderated a closed meeting with journalists and NGOs where the amendments were discussed.

The text of the bill will be published only after its adoption.

Human rights activists recalled that on September 3, the UN Human Rights Committee called on Kazakhstan to combat discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. The Committee Against Torture had earlier expressed concern about violence based on sexual orientation and urged protection for vulnerable groups.

In practice, the organizations emphasized, LGBTQ+ individuals in Kazakhstan face attacks, threats, extortion, and violence — both from police and private individuals.

NGOs are being deregistered, and existing laws fail to provide protection against discrimination.

It is not too late for authorities in Kazakhstan to do the right thing and ensure that these abusive amendments are scrapped, the groups said,
 human rights activists stated.

Earlier, it was reported that the Majilis had already supported a bill banning LGBT propaganda. Deputy Irina Smirnova stated that the law would apply to books, cartoons, and comics promoting same-sex love.

All such materials will be labeled, and restrictions will be set by the Ministry of Culture.

Another source of criticism is the study on the harm of LGBT propaganda cited by the bill’s sponsors. It was conducted by the National Prosperity Foundation, though no ministry has taken responsibility for its content. The Ministry of Culture said it would not assess the document’s quality, while the ministries of health, higher education, and education confirmed that no official research had been conducted.

Political scientist Gaziz Abishev previously explained why such bans are ineffective, arguing that hormonal changes during adolescence have a far greater impact on behavior than any media content.

Blocking information, he said, is futile in the age of VPNs.

The main 'propaganda' is hormones, not comics. Laws should be the same for everyone, regardless of orientation,
 the expert noted.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov