A fringe group of Kazakh politicians are in favor of imprisoning people for supporting LGBT rights and freedoms. Members of parliament Yedil Zhanbyrshin and Samat Musabayev are proposing an amendment to Article 174 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, which ostensibly concerns the ‘incitement of discord’. Their idea, reports Tengrinews.kz, is to add the phrase: “including by propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations.”
The penalties for violating this article range from fines of between $16,200 and $57,500, to a prison term of up to seven years.
Zhanbyrshin and Musabayev claim that in Kazakhstani society, a traditional family means a man and a woman, and their children — including adopted children. In turn, however, members of the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) have emphasized that the word family, according to the law “On Marriage (Matrimony) and Family,” relates to a circle of persons bound by property and personal non-property rights, and obligations arising from marriage.
Two other members of the Mazhilis, Askhat Aimagambetov and Zhanarbek Ashimzhanov, from the Amanat Party, have proposed a ban on the media mentioning LGBT people, and to close or suspend any outlet that did. This amendment was also included in the draft law “On Mass Media,” which is currently under consideration.
