Leader of Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) party Alisher Kadirov on 11 November commented on a quote from US president-elect Donald Trump, posted by IvankaNews_ on the social media platform X. Although the account uses Ivanka Trump’s name, it is not affiliated with her official account.
The post referenced Trump’s intentions to cut federal funding for “all schools that teach children inappropriate sexual material and promote transgender madness”.
Kadirov expressed approval, stating that “addressing the root of the issue is very positive”. “We are working on a law to prohibit any propaganda on this issue in Uzbekistan,” he added.
The complete Trump quote emphasized plans to cut federal funding for schools that impose critical race theory, transgender madness or any other “inappropriate racial, sexual or political content” on children. Trump also stated he would “withhold federal funds from any school with mandatory mask or vaccine policies”.
In the US, some states include gender identity in sex education programs. Between 2016 and 2018, seven states — California, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington — reported a 10-point or higher increase in middle schools offering LGBT-inclusive sex education.
Critical race theory, which suggests that racism is systemic within the US legal and social systems, is not a mandatory subject in most American schools.
In a comment to Gazeta.uz, Milliy Tiklanish confirmed that Kadirov, in collaboration with the party’s Research and Study Center, was developing the draft document to ban “LGBT propaganda” in Uzbekistan.
“It's just a draft. The document is still in its initial stages and is not yet a formal legislative proposal, as the Research Center lacks legislative authority. Should the document be completed, it could be submitted to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis,” the party said.
Milliy Tiklanish considers the issue 'topical' for Uzbekistan. “It is relevant because we have a lot of people who travel abroad, there is a lot of material [on the subject] on the Internet. If we don’t protect children’s minds from negative consequences now, we won’t be able to do it later. Everything has to do with human rights and children’s rights,” the party spokeswoman said.
In June 2021, Kadirov proposed the deportation of LGBT individuals, arguing that “such people would simply not survive in Uzbek society even 100 years from now.” He claimed that around 100 LGBT individuals reached out in gratitude for his stance.
In December 2022, Uzbekistan considered banning media, websites and bloggers from promoting “unnatural same-sex relationships” as part of an Information code draft, which remains unapproved.
In August of this year, police detained over 20 people dressed in cosplays at Riviera Mall in Tashkent following a tip that LGBT supporters were gathering there. Some minors were among those detained, though the gathering was related to a store’s anniversary celebration.
In 2022, Russia expanded its pre-existing ban on “non-traditional sexual relations” among minors to all age groups, imposing additional penalties for promoting LGBT content in media, literature and online platforms.
