A controversial bill that would ban ‘homosexual propaganda’ will be debated by the Kyrgyzstan parliament before the end of the month in the latest step in the former Soviet Central Asian nation to pass a similar law to the one passed by Russia in 2013.

The Kyrgyz bill would see people imprisoned for up to a year for disseminating ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,’ including journalists who cover LGBTI issues in a positive light.

The bill would also ban organizations that defend the rights of LGBTI people or campaign for their acceptance or equality.

The bill passed its first vote in October of last year in a landslide, with only 7 out of 86 lawmakers voting against it and it seems likely to pass in the legislature when a vote comes up again.

However the bill must still pass a third vote before it can be signed by President Almazbek Atambayev and become law leaving some room for international pressure to be brought to bear.

According to Radio Free Europe a group of anti-gay protesters gathered outside the Kyrgyz parliament yesterday to encourage lawmakers to move forward with the bill.

They were holding signs that read ‘Preserve our traditions, our way of life, our values!’

The protesters decried gay people and NGOs that support gay rights, claiming that homosexuality and pedophilia were linked.

The group were met by lawmaker Nurkamo Madaliev who confirmed the bill would be back before the parliament this month.

Kyrgyzstan only decriminalized homosexuality 17 years ago.