🏳️🌈 Are you from Kazakhstan and afraid after the 2025 law?
In the UK this is grounds for asylum. You are not alone.
Police raided LGBT venues in Astana in 2024 and 2025. This is officially documented.
What to do right now:
«30 December 2025: President Tokayev signed the propaganda law. Fine: 144,500 tenge. Up to 10 days administrative detention. In force from early 2026.» (Eurasianet, January 2026; HRW November 2025; Amnesty November 2025)
«12 April 2024, Astana: SOBR raid on a rented cottage. Approximately 70 men taken to police station. Pretext: 'tip-off about prohibited substances'.» (RFE/RL Exclusive Kazakhstan, April 2024; ILGA-Europe statement, April 2024)
«22 November 2025, Astana: Police and Special Forces Against Organised Crime raided LGBT bar. All staff taken to police station. Named: Zhanar Sekerbaeva, Temirlan Baimash, Arzha Tursynkhan (placed in cell, physically assaulted, glasses broken).» (76 Crimes, February 2026; FIDH/OMCT, November 2025)
«ECOM 2024: 78% of registered hate crimes target LGBT people; 27% of LGBT respondents physically assaulted; three-quarters do not report to police.» (ECOM National Report Kazakhstan, March 2025)
«LGBT propaganda» law of 30 December 2025
On 30 December 2025, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law banning «propaganda of LGBT». The law provides for a fine of 144,500 tenge (approx. $280) and up to 10 days administrative detention for «propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations».
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and OHCHR condemned the law before it was signed. OHCHR described it as «institutionalising discrimination». The law came into force in early 2026.
Police raids in Astana: April 2024 and November 2025
On 12 April 2024, SOBR officers raided a rented cottage in Astana. Approximately 70 men were taken to a police station under the pretext of «a tip-off about prohibited substances».
On 22 November 2025, police and Special Forces Against Organised Crime raided an LGBT bar in Astana. All staff were detained. According to reports, Arzha Tursynkhan was placed in a cell with detainees who threatened rape, physically assaulted him and broke his glasses.
Both incidents are documented by multiple independent sources.
Cross-references
To understand how the Home Office handles LGBT cases without a UK CPIN, see Evidence for LGBT asylum. For other countries — All countries.