Kyrgyzstan's 'Gay Propaganda' Bill Closer to Becoming Law

Lawmakers in Kyrgyzstan are close to passing a measure that mirrors Russia's infamous and controversial anti-gay "propaganda" law, according to Gay Star News.

It was reported in June that lawmakers in the Central Asian country were very close to passing the bill that bans the spreading of "homosexual propaganda" to eradicate gay clubs and ban the LGBT community's gay pride parades.

Gay Star News now reports that the bill's co-author, Kurmanbek Dyikanbaev, confirmed that a parliamentary committee approved the language of the measure, which means the bill will now move on to parliament for a debate. If approved, it will have to be signed by Kyrgyzstan's president, Almazbek Atambayev.

The bill is similar to Russia's anti-gay "propaganda" measure, which sparked international outrage last year, especially when the Winter Games were being held in Sochi in February. Kyrgyzstan's measure will ban the spread of information about "non-traditional sexual relations."

But unlike Russia's law, which fines people guilty of spreading gay "propaganda," Kyrgyzstan's measure will punish people who "propagate homosexual relations" by a one-year jail sentence. They will also be fined "more than half of the Kyrgyz average monthly salary," which is about $115 (U.S.).

The measure also calls for the banning of LGBT organizations.

Dyikanbaev he hopes the bill will preserve "traditional family values" and destroy the acceptance of homosexuality that is being "propagated by the West."

Officials from the European Union said the bill is the most "sweeping anti-propaganda bills ever published."

"It's only been 16 years since Kyrgyzstan decriminalized homosexuality," she told Gay Star News. "It is unacceptable that people might again be put in jail for being who they are, or even for sharing objective information about different sexual orientations. I urge the Kyrgyzstan not to go back to state-sponsored homophobia."

Kyrgyzstan has been a poor country since gaining independence after the Soviet Union collapsed and accepts government aid from both the U.S. and Russia.

"These bills - they are a tool for mobilizing public support for the government, for the Russian government as well," Anna Kirey, an LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, told BuzzFeed this summer.