Kazakh Senate indefinitely postpones consideration of massively anti-LGBTQ+ billhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/12/kazakh-senate-indefinitely-postpones-consideration-of-massively-anti-lgbtq-bill/ 🔗Alex Bollinger (9 Dec 2025)
A month after the lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament voted for a ban on "LGBTQ+ propaganda," the former Soviet nation's Senate announced that the legislation would be delayed for an indefinite period of time.
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 or on social media.
"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.
Deputy Irina Smirnova cited library books and cartoons featuring same-sex relationships as examples of the "propaganda" addressed by the bill.
But the Kazakh Senate announced last week that the bill was tabled.
"It is important to note that the law introduces amendments and additions to the Labor Code of Kazakhstan, as well as to 12 other laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This is a significant amount of work and requires additional time. Moreover, given that the law also regulates issues related to the protection of children's rights, this is always a matter requiring special consideration and increased attention."
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev lobbied hard for the bill, saying that it was necessary to uphold "traditional values." Parties loyal to Tokayev dominate the lower chamber and voted unanimously in favor of the ban.
