"The bill, modeled on Russia's ban on LGBTQ+ speech, included fines and jail time for people found to have spread pro-LGBTQ+ messages in the media (including education and advertising materials) or on social media. The bill bans "the use of media, literature, entertainment, and other events that promote non-traditional sexual relations and pedophilia," linking LGBTQ+ identities with child sex abuse, an old negative stereotype used to drum up support for homophobia."
""Children and teenagers are exposed to information online every day that can negatively impact their ideas about family, morality, and the future," Kazakh Education Minister Gani Beisembayev told lawmakers before the vote. LGBTQ+ advocates denounced the new law. "Any attempt to ban visibility, discussion, or support of LGBT people is not the defense of traditional values; it's a rejection of elementary human rights," said activist Abdel Mukhtarov at a press conference."
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed amendments on December 30 that ban LGBTQ+ speech. The bill, modeled on Russia’s law, imposes fines and jail time for people spreading pro-LGBTQ+ messages in media, educational and advertising materials, or on social media. The law bans "the use of media, literature, entertainment, and other events that promote non-traditional sexual relations and pedophilia," explicitly linking LGBTQ+ identities with child sex abuse. An Education Ministry statement cited online exposure of children as justification. LGBTQ+ advocates condemned the law. The measure sets fines of 150,000 and 300,000 tenge for repeat offenses and followed a citizens’ petition with over 50,000 signatures.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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