Draft legislation could see “biological sex” written into law in Turkey and the “promotion” of LGBTQ rights criminalised.
According to a draft document from the justice ministry acquired by LGBTQ rights group Kaos GL, the new legislation would also introduce prison time for those who conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies.
One provision to be added to the Turkish penal code would mandate that a “person who publicly encourages, praises or promotes attitudes and behaviours contrary to the biological sex at birth and public morality shall be sentenced to imprisonment of one year to three years”.
“If persons of the same sex perform an engagement or marriage ceremony, they shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one year and six months to four years,” said the document, which was obtained by Kaos GL from a ministry source.
Other aspects of the bill would raise the age at which one can begin the process of gender reassignment from 18 to 21 and make changing your gender on official documents more difficult.
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Though still a draft document yet to arrive at parliament, it comes shortly after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that 2025 would be “Year of the Family” and would see a crackdown on “harmful trends and perverse ideologies”.
The proposals have alarmed LGBTQ campaigners, who see it as just the latest attack on their community from the government and its allies.
‘This bill is not about protecting families – it is about criminalising existence’
– Damla Umut Uzun, Kaos GL
“This bill is not about protecting families – it is about criminalising existence,” said Damla Umut Uzun, a campaigner with Kaos GL.
She told Middle East Eye that, if enacted, this law could bring an end to nearly 40 years of organised LGBTQ activism in Turkey, including “18 years of legal status for LGBTI+ associations”.
“Activists could be arrested, organisations shut down and feminist movements directly affected,” she said.
“This proposal aims to dismantle social peace and suppress any relationship or identity that does not fit within the government’s narrow definition of family.”
‘Year of the family’
Although support for LGBTQ rights is far from widespread across Turkey, there have been a number of prominent gay and trans celebrities over the years and the issue has gained salience among left-wing and liberal politicians in recent years.
Erdogan himself was photographed at an iftar dinner with trans singer Bulent Ersoy in 2016.
However, his government has recently become increasingly vocal against the LGBTQ community.
At the launch of his “year of the family” initiative last month, Erdogan said that LGBTQ rights were used as a “battering ram” to destroy the family.
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“It is our common responsibility to protect our children and youth from harmful trends and perverse ideologies. Neoliberal cultural trends are crossing borders and penetrating all corners of the world,” he told the audience in Ankara.
“They also lead to LGBT and other movements gaining ground.”
Although Istanbul held its first Pride parade in 2003, the gathering was banned in 2015, nominally over safety concerns.
LGBTQ campaigners and journalists have faced abuse and harassment, while university groups have been targeted by police.
On 18 February, Kaos GL’s editor-in-chief Yildiz Tar was detained by police during a widespread sweep targeting leftist and pro-Kurdish journalists, and remains in detention.
Tar previously told MEE the country was becoming increasingly unsafe for campaigning journalists such as himself.
“They are trying to impose an anti-LGBTI agenda on society,” he said in 2021.
“It is not the case that there is a huge societal group that is against LGBTI people, but rather the government, political parties and media that are sponsored by the government are always targeting LGBTI people.”
