Traditionalism’s Double Standard

Last week, Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies opened a criminal investigation involving a video of dancers in high heels performing inside a yurt. Choreographer Alisher Sultanbekuly danced, while a group of 20 deputies headed by Samat Musabayev loudly complained. By the end of the year, Musabayev should receive the title of chief champion of traditional values, in addition to the many state awards he already received.

Musabayev was offended by everything in the music video: The fact that the main character is a guy (for whom the deputy used a derogatory term) and the fact that the action takes place inside a yurt.

The performance used a song by Kairat Baekenov and the group Format, which was also the soundtrack of “Kelinka Sabina”, a film where actor Nurtas Adambai cross-dressed to play the main role. Now Adambai is playing the role of ardent supporter of “traditional values”, like Musabayev. Yet, neither of them is embarrassed by “Kelinka Sabina” and neither has called for its removal from the web and punishment of the authors (in that case, Adambai would have to call for his own punishment).

Musabayev and his colleagues were also not embarrassed by the recent video for the song “Aidakhar” by the band Irina Kairatovna, in which half-naked men dance against the backdrop of a yurt. Probably because the band enjoys the favor of certain government officials. And deputies know this.

Deputies also know that the government openly and covertly supports their active struggle for “traditional family values.”

For example, the minister of culture and information Aida Balayeva found time to comment on Sultanbekuly’s music video, but not on any other performance.

Immediately after a public petition for a “ban on LGBT propaganda” received 50,000 signatures, the same ministry of culture reported that it would discuss its merit. This all happened on a Sunday evening, when ministries hardly react.

The working group in charge of discussing this petition under the ministry of culture is headed, unsurprisingly, by Musabayev and several of his conservative colleagues. The human rights activists that were invited to join the working group, had originally said the petition contained discriminatory norms and, in principle, should not have been even considered. Its authors are supporters of conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers from the Union of Parents of Kazakhstan, which directly appeals to the experience of neighboring Russia, where the government actively suppresses LGBTQ+ people.

Individual deputies, authors of petitions, and public figures who unexpectedly joined the conservatives despite having previously earned a fortune from exploiting cross-dressing or advertising bets, also want the same oppression.

This oppression is conveniently built on the theme of family values, national traditions, and opposition to the foreign. This can unite those who have been frightened for many years on television by the concept of “LGBT propaganda,” something that does not exist in reality. The discrimination against a group of people for whom few would want to stand up looks less scary to those who do not consider themselves to be minorities.

But discrimination always starts in small steps before leading to widespread repression. These steps can always be justified and explained, but their consequences can be disastrous on many levels: From the deterioration of the country’s investment climate to the flight of those who are not ready to live in a society where one group is subject to open and legally-justified persecution.

The case of Alisher Sultanbekuly’s dance and the petition “against LGBT propaganda” are not the first attempts to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, even this year. The first initiatives did not go through earlier this spring. New ones shouldn't go through either.

Осы мақаланың қазақша нұсқасын оқыңыз.

Читайте этот материал на русском.