Ezgi Sarı

Anti-LGBTQ+ regulations that the AKP government was previously forced to withdraw from the 10th and 11th Judicial Packages following public backlash are now being brought back to Parliament’s agenda via the 12th Judicial Package. According to information obtained by Kaos GL, the package—expected to consist of approximately 25 articles—includes provisions targeting the public visibility of queer people, their freedom of organisation and expression, and the gender affirmation processes of trans people. The 12th Judicial Package is expected to be submitted to Parliament this week. Meanwhile, LGBT+ organisations and human rights activists warn that these regulations will deepen discrimination and provide legal cover for existing violations of rights, whilst adding that “in this period where hate speech is on the rise, this package would be the last straw.”

IMPRISONMENT

One of the most far-reaching changes in the judicial package concerns the gender affirmation process for trans people. Accordingly, plans include redefining the application and surgical requirements for the gender affirmation process, raising the age limit from 18 to 25, and adding a ‘no children’ condition to the existing ‘not married’ requirement. Health board reports issued during the process are to be obtained only from fully-equipped training and research hospitals designated by the Ministry of Health, and it is envisaged that four separate assessments must be carried out at intervals of at least three months for the report. The information note also states that it will be mandatory to assess whether the individual is “permanently deprived of reproductive capacity” in the reports. The judicial package also includes provisions to classify ‘illegal gender confirmation surgery’ as a separate offence under the Turkish Penal Code. Accordingly, doctors who perform medical interventions contrary to the specified conditions face prison sentences of between three and seven years, whilst those who commission such interventions face prison sentences of between one and three years.

Another aspect of the package brings the existence, visibility and advocacy of the queer community into the scope of criminal sanctions. According to the briefing note obtained, “indecent acts” This package would be the crowning glory of hatred; anti-queer regulations that the AKP had previously backed down from are returning to Parliament. Human rights activists said the aim is to erase LGBT+ people from the public sphere: Opposing the package is defending freedom and equality; the penalty for the offence is set to be increased from six months to one year’s imprisonment to one to three years’ imprisonment. Under the new legislation, “publicly engaging in, or publicly encouraging, attitudes and behaviours contrary to one’s biological sex at birth in a manner contrary to public morality, or praising or promoting such behaviours” will be defined as a criminal offence, with the aim of combating ‘gender-neutralisation movements’ more effectively. The law plans to punish queer people with a prison sentence of between one and three years simply for stating that they exist.

Numerous queer organisations, such as Kaos GL and the 17 May Association, issued a joint statement declaring: “We will not let our dignity be packaged; we are here with our dignity, and we want to live with our dignity!” Defne Güzel, President of the 17 May Association and one of the signatory organisations, told BirGün that the 12th Judicial Package is not a legal reform, but a regulation aimed at eradicating LGBTI+ people from society. Noting that the unclear language in the package aims to criminalise LGBT+ people, Güzel highlighted that numerous areas—from walking in the street to self-expression, from advocating for rights under the umbrella of an association to trans gender affirmation processes—could be criminalised. Güzel said, “At a time when hate speech is on the rise, this package would be the crowning glory of hatred. Opposing this package is not just about defending LGBTI+ rights, but also the rule of law, freedom and equality.”

RIGHTS VIOLATIONS WILL INCREASE

Oğulcan Yediveren, Community and Empowerment Programme Coordinator at the SPoD Association, noted that the proposed regulations targeting the LGBT+ community in the package carry the risk of legitimising existing practices of prohibition and repression. Yediveren, who highlighted that the implementation of these regulations would lead to human rights violations reaching a much broader scale, said: “This legislative change will result in far-reaching consequences, such as the censorship and erasure of queer people in the arts and media; the subjection of queer organisations or other organisations working on these issues to judicial harassment and even closure; and queer people becoming more vulnerable to violence and hate crimes due to their inability to access public services and the state’s legal protection. The inability of trans people to access gender-affirming care services will, in turn, lead to multi-layered human rights violations, primarily concerning the right to health. Indeed, these regulations could result in severe consequences, including the imprisonment of individuals simply for being LGBT+ individuals. Everyone who sees themselves as a citizen defending a life worthy of human dignity must urgently speak out against this draft law and stand against the state overstepping its bounds by interfering in citizens’ lives, bodies and relationships. Otherwise, this bill will drive the final nail into the coffin of democracy, which is already barely recognised in Türkiye.”

HATEFUL RHETORIC IS NOTHING NEW

The debates surrounding the Judicial Package are seen as a new phase in the hate speech directed at LGBTI+ people by the government in recent years. During the process of declaring 2025 the “Year of the Family”, President Erdoğan used language portraying LGBT+ people as a threat to the institution of the family; during the 2023 election campaign, he also made anti-LGBT+ sentiment a central theme of his campaign by stating, “Protecting our children from deviant practices such as LGBT is fundamental for us.” Phrases such as “deviant movements”, “LGBT propaganda” and “elements that corrupt the family structure”, which have frequently featured in the AKP government’s rhetoric in recent years, have long made LGBT+ people the target of public and political debates.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Bu paket nefretin taçlandırılması olur, published in BirGün newspaper on June 16, 2026.

Kaynak: BirGün