Kazakhstan is competing to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, but a new anti-gay law currently under consideration has a number of Olympic athletes speaking out against the country.

A letter organized by LGBT sports advocacy group Athlete Ally, and signed by 27 Olympians, urged International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach to uphold the games' principles of nondiscrimination and pressure Kazakhstan if it wants to win its bid to host the 2022 games.

[caption id="attachment_200791" align="alignnone" width="592"] IOC President Thomas Boch[/caption]

After Sochi, the IOC amended Principle 6 of the Olympic charter to include, "The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

Kazakhstan's new anti-gay measure will be the first opportunity for the IOC to demonstrate how they plan to put the newly worded Principle 6 into action.

Read the letter below:

"Dear President Bach,

The Olympic movement is built upon the fundamental principles of respect and inclusion and the belief that the experiences of athletes and fans should be free from discrimination of any kind. As current and former Olympic, Paralympic and professional athletes, we believe in the fundamental principles of Olympism and that maintaining the integrity of the Olympic movement requires potential host countries to abide by these Olympic ideals.

Under your leadership, non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has been enshrined in the Olympic Charter and placed in the Olympic Host City contracts. The Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms you championed are a powerful step forward for the global sports community. However, implementation will be key.

In light of Kazakhstan’s aspirations to host the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and their recent consideration of legislation prohibiting “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation,” we urge the IOC to reiterate to Kazakh authorities that discrimination with regard to sexual orientation is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic movement.

The IOC is in a unique position as the global leader in sport to communicate to the Kazakh authorities that no discriminatory legislation should be adopted or implemented.

We were extremely proud to see the leadership of the IOC amend Principle 6 of the Olympic charter to include sexual orientation and believe these changes in principles will strengthen the Olympic movement for generations to come. It is now time to call on Kazakhstan and any other country wishing to host the games, to put those principles into practice."

The measure, titled the Law on the Protection of Children from Information Harming their Health and Development, bans pro-gay "propaganda," a broadly defined term that could stifle almost any form of free speech.

Last year, the Bolashak (“Future”) fascist movement called for legislation to not only ban so-called  “propaganda” but to prohibit LGBT Kazakhstanis from serving in public office or the military.

“I think it is very easy to identify a gay person by his or her DNA," declared Bolashok leader Dauren Babamuratov. "A blood test can show the presence of degeneratism in a person.”

Athlete Ally joins Amnesty International and other human rights groups in calling for President Nazarbayev to reject the bill.

h/t: Huffington Post