ASTANA, Kazakhstan — A lawmaker in Kazakhstan’s parliament says he will introduce a bill modeled after Russia’s anti-gay law that will shut down gay clubs, end pride parades, and prohibit all forms of “homosexual propaganda.”
MP Aldan Smaiyl said he had filed a request with the country’s Prime Minister this past spring, asking the government to take action.
“I asked to ban gay clubs, demonstrations and any and all of these disgusting relations. I received a reply that Kazakhstan had no such law (allowing to close the clubs),” Smaiyl said.
He added that he would work on introducing the law after the summer break when Parliament is back in session noting that his constituents were supportive of his efforts.
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“I will raise this issue in the Social Cultural Development Committee of the Majilis [Lower House] first, and then talk to the deputies. This should not continue the way they are now,” Smaiyl said.
Another lawmaker, Murat Akhmadiyev, told Tengrinews.kz that he believes that homosexuality “propaganda” is not something that should even be put up for a discussion in Kazakhstan.
“Ideally there should not even be any discussions about it, as homosexuality is a clearly unacceptable behavior. We have always said that our country is different, not like Europe,” said Akhmadiyev.
Akhmadiyev said Kazakhstan should remain firm and stand up for its principles and laws, even as the international community criticizes its intolerance to the LGBT community.
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Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; it has more than 16 million residents, and spans from Eastern Eurpoe to Central Asia along Russia’s southern border.
Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Kazakhstan since 1998, but the country does not recognize same-sex unions in any form
