Turkey Set to Crack Down Harder on LGBTI+ Rights Amid Democratic Decline

Turkey is on the verge of passing a controversial bill that threatens to severely restrict the rights of LGBTI+ people as the country’s democracy continues to unravel. The proposed legislation, introduced by the government coalition party HÜDAPAR in April, is part of a broader crackdown on civil rights and dissent.

The draft law, titled the “Bill on Amendments to the Turkish Penal Code and Certain Other Laws,” targets LGBTI+ individuals with harsh criminal measures, including a sweeping ban on LGBTI+ “propaganda.”

This move echoes similar laws seen in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Georgia but is even more severe in scope and punishment.

Severe Penalties and Widespread Censorship

If passed, the bill would impose prison sentences ranging from 3 to 5 years for “promoting” or disseminating information about “sexual relations or behaviours between persons of the same biological sex in any way”.

The penalties increase if such promotion occurs through media, including digital platforms, effectively censoring nearly all communication involving LGBTI+ topics.

The bill imposes 2 to 8 years’ imprisonment for a person who engages in public sexual intercourse and 1 to 2 years’ imprisonment for a person who engages in acts of public indecency or exhibitionism, but doubles these penalties if those involved are of the same sex.

The bill also contains a troubling clause that criminalises transgender people who do not disclose their sex assigned at birth before marriage. Those who fail to do so risk imprisonment for “fraudulent marriage.”

An Attack on Fundamental Rights

This bill comes amid a harsh crackdown on opposition leaders, human rights defenders, journalists, artists, and LGBTI+ activists. High-profile figures like Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu have been arrested, and protests have been met with violent police repression.

Speaking at the recent International Family Forum in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the traditional family was under attack from what he called the “LGBT plague”.  He stated that “The fight against LGBT perversion is also a fight for freedom, dignity, and the future of humanity.”

Katrin Hugendubel, Advocacy Director at ILGA-Europe, condemned the “discriminatory amendments,” describing them as part of a broader attack on fundamental rights and sharp decline of democracy in Turkey.

“They introduce further discrimination against the LGBTI community, contravening international fundamental rights standards and decisions of Turkey’s Constitutional Court and contribute to the tightening of the fundamental right to freedom of expression. They must not be adopted,” she said.

What This Means for LGBTI+ People in Turkey

Turkey currently ranks 47th out of 49 countries on ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, which measures LGBTI+ rights protections in Europe. The adoption of this bill would push the country even further from respecting equality and human dignity for all its citizens.

The bill threatens to roll back hard-won rights and put LGBTI+ people at increased risk of discrimination, violence, and criminalization. It signals a disturbing trend where governments use anti-LGBTI+ laws to silence dissent and control civil society, undermining democracy and freedom of expression.