Türkiye Pushes to Jail LGBT People, Ban Gender-Affirming Care in New Legal Crackdown
Türkiye's government has proposed sweeping new laws that would criminalize LGBT people and ban gender-affirming healthcare, marking a sharp reversal from moves toward tolerance seen elsewhere in Europe.
The Justice and Development Party, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has circulated a legal brief to lawmakers proposing prison sentences for vaguely defined “attitudes and behaviors contrary to biological sex and public morality” [173682]. Anyone who praises or promotes such conduct could face up to three years in prison [173682].
The proposal also targets gender-affirming care. It would raise the minimum age for sex reassignment surgery to 25, require mandatory sterilization before the procedure, and ban anyone with children from having the surgery [173682]. In Türkiye, such surgery is currently necessary for legal gender recognition [173682].
Under the plan, gender-affirming surgeries would require four separate health evaluations at hospitals heavily dependent on the government. Doctors who perform surgeries without following these rules could face up to seven years in prison, while trans people who undergo the surgery could face three years [173682].
The proposal matches a draft law leaked in October 2025 that never reached parliament after an outcry from civil society groups in Türkiye and abroad [173682]. Experts say the law would violate international human rights law on privacy, legal recognition, and health [173682].
For years, the Erdoğan government has used hateful language against LGBT people while promoting “family values” [173682]. Officials have banned most Pride marches and other LGBT public events for a decade, and courts use existing laws on “obscenity” to prosecute LGBT people and groups [173682]. In December 2025, a court shut down an LGBT organization because of social media posts it called “obscene” [173682].
The move comes as a major conference in Türkiye called for democratic forces to unite and fight for peace and democracy [173531]. The “Conference on the Democratic Transformation of the Republic in Its Second Century” urged all democratic groups to show solidarity and work together, emphasizing the need to make peace and democratic values central to society [173531].
Meanwhile, internal divisions are growing inside Türkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP). Nearly 900 signatures demanding an extraordinary party congress will be delivered to party headquarters, but neither former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu nor current leader Özgür Özel has formally backed the call, creating a split within the party [173524].
Critics say passing the anti-LGBT law would deepen systematic discrimination and break Türkiye’s international promises on human rights [173682].
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