A government proposal would pave the way to bring criminal charges against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Türkiye, one of the most alarming rollbacks of rights in decades.
In a draft of the reform law leaked to the media, one new article would criminalize behavior deemed “contrary to biological sex and general morality,” including its so-called “promotion.” Another would restrict access to gender-affirming health care. A third would allow for criminal charges against both transgender people and medical professionals who provide care outside these new limits.
Bringing criminal charges against people for their gender identity or sexual orientation violates human dignity and amounts to state-sanctioned oppression.
>> Read more about this dangerously regressive law
The justification for the proposed anti-LGBT amendments is based on vague claims to protect “the family” and “public morals,” a framing the Erdoğan government has repeatedly employed in recent years to legitimize stigmatizing and excluding LGBT people and to undercut women’s protection and rights.
Fifteen LGBT groups in Türkiye have expressed strong concerns about the threat the amendments pose to their fundamental freedoms, right to equality before the law, and participation in a democratic society.
Under international human rights law governments have obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights of LGBT people and cannot invoke simple moral disapproval as justification to deny their rights, or resort to discrimination against them, far less criminal charges.
