Kazakhstan puts LGBT community in crosshairs to mollify conservatives

The authorities want to placate the conservative but ostensibly secular-leaning middle by demonstratively alienating both the progressive and ultra-orthodox Islamic fringes.

Kazakhstan suffers from one of the highest rates of underage suicide in the world. Almost 350 people endure some form of domestic violence daily. Seven children were killed because of such abuse in 2023. The amount of synthetic drugs in circulation – much of it aimed at the youth market – is soaring vertiginously.

So, of course, Kazakhstan’s Union of Par…