Türkiye Moves to Jail LGBT People, Ban Gender-Affirming Care

As Hungary drops charges against Pride organizers, Türkiye is pushing in the opposite direction with new proposals to criminalize LGBT people. Turkish media report that President Erdoğan’s government has circulated a brief to lawmakers in its Justice and Development Party. The brief proposes legal changes to increase penalties for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The text matches a draft law leaked in October 2025 that never reached parliament after an outcry from civil society groups in Türkiye and abroad. The proposal would punish vaguely defined “attitudes and behaviors contrary to biological sex and public morality.” Anyone praising or promoting such conduct could face up to three years in prison. The proposal also targets gender-affirming health care. It would raise the minimum age for sex reassignment surgery to 25. It would require mandatory sterilization before the procedure. Anyone with children would be banned from having the surgery. In Türkiye, reassignment surgery is needed for legal gender recognition. Under the plan, gender-affirming surgeries would require four health evaluations at hospitals that are heavily dependent on the government. Doctors who perform surgeries without following these rules could face up to seven years in prison. Trans people who undergo the surgery could face three years. The proposal violates international human rights law on privacy, legal recognition, and health, experts say. For years, the Erdoğan government has used hateful language against LGBT people while promoting “family values.” Officials have banned most Pride marches and other LGBT public events for a decade. Courts use existing laws on “obscenity” to prosecute LGBT people and groups. In December 2025, a court shut down an LGBT organization because of social media posts it called “obscene” and said “could encourage [LGBT] behaviors.” In May 2026, a singer was acquitted after a trial for a song about same-sex desire. Passing this law would deepen systematic discrimination and break Türkiye’s international promises on human rights, the proposal’s critics say.