A so-called “judicial reform” package unveiled by the Turkish government on Wednesday amplifies its already hostile official position toward trans and other LGBTQ+ community members with new measures that are seemingly arbitrary, draconian, and reactionary all at the same time.

Several of the package’s proposals address the global far right’s obsession with “gender ideology,” promoted by authoritarians like U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Related

Streaming platform Mubi cancels Turkish film festival over “Queer” ban

According to one proposed amendment, “Any person who engages in, publicly encourages, praises, or promotes attitudes or behaviors contrary to their biological sex at birth and public morality shall be punished with imprisonment of one to three years,” Türkiye Today reports.

The draft proposal would amend an article of the Turkish Penal Code titled “Obscene Acts” to include a new clause criminalizing expressions of gender and sexuality that are found to contradict “biological sex and public morality.” The proposal targets digital platforms featuring LGBTQ+ characters or storylines. 

While homosexuality is not officially outlawed in Turkey, same-sex unions are. Under the proposed “reforms,” same-sex couples holding engagement or wedding ceremonies could face prison sentences ranging from one and a half years to four years.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

The penalty for “public sexual acts or exhibitionism,” currently set between six months and one year, would also be increased to between one and three years.

Among the raft of changes conservative lawmakers are calling for, the authoritarian right’s obsession with gender dominates, including a proposal to raise the legal age for gender reassignment surgery from 18 to 25.

Lawmakers cited the “need for individuals to reach a certain level of maturity before making a decision that would profoundly affect the rest of their lives.”

Individuals seeking gender-affirming care would now have to be unmarried, receive a medical board report from a Ministry of Health-approved hospital confirming that any procedure is “psychologically necessary,” obtain four separate evaluations spaced three months apart, and secure a court order amendment to their civil registry once their medical report is approved.

Healthcare professionals performing gender-affirming surgeries who don’t follow those rules would face three to seven years’ imprisonment plus fines.

Lawmakers said the purpose of the amendments was “to ensure the upbringing of physically and mentally healthy individuals and to protect the family institution and social structure.”

The protection of the family and “the prevention of attacks on public morality and values,” was essential, they said, “to combat gender-neutrality movements and preserve the social fabric.”

Turkey’s retreat from a more progressive attitude around LGBTQ+ rights runs parallel to the rise of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, an Islamist social conservative who’s stoked anti-Western sentiment and shut down dissent while consolidating power in his increasingly authoritarian regime.

Over the last decade, public LGBTQ+ events like Pride marches have come under scrutiny and censorship by Turkish authorities. In November, the government banned a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s drama Queer at Mubi Fest Istanbul, leading the org to cancel the festival altogether in a show of protest and solidarity with the community.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.