Senate Moves “LGBT Propaganda” Amendments to Final Stage
The Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan has officially placed the draft law on archival affairs, including provisions introducing restrictions on the so-called “LGBT propaganda”, on the agenda for consideration this Thursday.
The issue will be reviewed at a plenary session of the Senate, which represents the final stage of the parliamentary legislative process before the bill may proceed further toward adoption.
According to the parliamentary schedule, the matter is also being discussed in preparatory format at the committee level, where senators review the proposed amendments and formulate their recommendations ahead of the plenary vote. Based on preliminary statements from several senators, the amendments are expected to receive broad support.
Timeline and urgency
The timeline for advocacy remains extremely limited.
Today and tomorrow represent the last opportunity for individuals and organizations to submit appeals to the Senate regarding the proposed amendments.
The most effective and legally binding channel for doing so is the eOtinish platform, Kazakhstan’s official digital system for submitting citizens’ appeals. Submissions made through eOtinish fall under administrative procedures that create direct legal obligations for state bodies to review and respond to the appeals.
Appeals may also be sent directly to individual senators as an additional communication channel.
Legal action regarding redirected appeals
In parallel, the human rights LGBTQIA+ initiative REQUEST is preparing a separate legal claim against the Senate concerning the practice of redirecting citizens’ appeals to the Ministry of Culture and Information.
According to the initiative, such redirection falls outside the expected parliamentary procedure when a legislative proposal is actively under consideration in the Senate.
Over the past days, REQUEST has begun receiving new official responses from individuals who submitted appeals, indicating that following the organization’s public announcement the Senate has resumed direct processing of appeals concerning the amendments and started including them in the review process.
One such response from the Senate states that the issues raised in citizens’ appeals will be considered by senators during the parliamentary review of the draft law on amendments concerning archival affairs and restrictions on unlawful content.
Ongoing monitoring and advocacy
REQUEST reports that it continues to monitor the legislative process closely and is preparing additional legal and advocacy steps related to the proposed amendments.
With the bill approaching its final parliamentary stage, civil society actors emphasize that public engagement at this moment remains critical.
Individuals who intended to submit an appeal are encouraged to do so immediately while the legislative process is still ongoing.