Calls for a ban on gender reassignment – “Let’s not submit to western and other influences”, say Kazakh MPs

03.03.2025

Article published on the rus.azattyq.org website

MPs in Kazakhstan’s Parliament (Majilis) want to follow Russia in banning gender reassignment as part of their ongoing campaign against the LGBT+ community. The man behind this proposal, Magerram Magerramov, recently accused civil society organisations that have received grants from USAID and other international human rights bodies of having a malign influence.

Magerramov wants legislation to be introduced to ban gender reassignment operations, saying that people who want to change sex “are mentally ill and living in a twisted reality”. He is well aware that the country’s national health code allows Kazakhs to have sex realignment surgery and hormone therapy but argues that the law should be ignored.

“Tolerance of such manipulations stretches the limit of what is permissible for disruptive groups who are driven by ideas that are unacceptable in our culture”, said the MP. “We cannot and will not go along with those who, influenced by western and other beliefs, promote values that are alien to our way of life!”

In recent times, Kazakh parliamentarians have started to become increasingly vocal about supporting traditional values. Their public statements often contain attacks on civil society bodies and human rights activists, who for years have received grants from international organisations, accusing them of promoting ideas which they say do not conform to national Kazakh values.

Activists fear that anti-LGBT+ legislation will mirror that of Russia where gender reassignment surgery is already banned and the law used as a tool for the repression of LGBT+ and trans people.

“Before Putin came to power in Russia the authorities were quite sceptical about such things and did not come after this section of Russian society. But Putin changed all that because he wanted people on his side and used anti-liberal elements to his advantage”, said human rights activist Sergei Duvanov.

There are clear signs that Kazakhstan is following Russia’s example in persecuting the LGBT+ community. In Almaty, members of the Parents Association, who believe in upholding traditional family values, have repeatedly disrupted the activities of the LGBT+ women’s rights group Feminita. A few months ago, women broke into a room where an education session was being held and created a serious disturbance. Initially, the incident passed off relatively calmly but later resulted in the Parents Association causing extensive damage to Feminita’s premises.

For some reason, the police did not detain the aggressors, despite the fact that the affected women had made official statements to law enforcement agencies. At the subsequent trial, the court found Feminita, not the attackers, guilty. The group’s two founders were fined $1,500 for running an unregistered organisation. The Parents Association were not even charged.

Sergei Duvanov is in no doubt that the Kazakh authorities are moving towards imposing restrictions on civil society and organisations that campaign for human rights and represent minorities. “There will be bans not only on sexual minorities but also limits on the democratic rights of these groups. I think that in this respect Kazakhstan will follow Russia’s lead and restrict the activities of civil society and political parties even more”, he said.

Source: https://rus.azattyq.org/a/kazahstan-deputaty-zapretit-smenu-pola/33332600.html