LGBTQ rights in Turkey

in 2013, İstiklal Avenue, Istanbul in Taksim Square During the Ottoman Empire The Ottomans, before the 19th-century, did not base sexual identities on attraction to a specific gender but distinguished between active and passive partners, often distinguished as "the lover" and "the beloved". Therefore, choice of a partner was merely based on taste and not on sexual identity. This made certain types of same-sex attraction permissible, but this attraction was most often legitimized in a pederastic context. In the 1980s, the Radical Democratic Green Party expressed support for gay rights, including the work of a group of transgender people to protest police brutality. However, it was not until the 1990s that many members of the LGBTQ community in Turkey began to organise on behalf of their human rights. In 1993, Lambda Istanbul was created to campaign on behalf of LGBTQ rights in Turkey. In 1994, the Freedom and Solidarity Party banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity within the party and nominated Demet Demir, a leading voice of the community, Throughout the 1990s, reports by IHD, Turkey's Human Rights Association as well as international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International stated that transgender people were frequently harassed and beaten by police officers. One article even stated that police had set fire to an apartment block with many transgender people residing there. Reports of harassment and violence against LGBTQ people still occur in the twenty-first century. In 2008, a gay Kurdish-Turk student, Ahmet Yıldız, was shot outside a café by his father and later died in the hospital. Sociologists have called this Turkey's first publicised gay honour killing. The wish of the Turkish Government to join the European Union has put some pressure on the government to grant official recognition to LGBTQ rights. The report on progress in Turkey for the accession to the European Union of 14 October 2009, the European Commission for Enlargement wrote: :The legal framework is not adequately aligned with the EU acquis... :Homophobia has resulted in cases of physical and sexual violence. The killing of several transsexuals and transvestites is a worrying development. Courts have applied the principle of 'unjust provocation' in favour of perpetrators of crimes against transsexuals and transvestites. In 2003, Turkey became the first Muslim-majority country in which a gay pride march was held. In Istanbul (since 2003) and in Ankara (since 2008) gay marches were being held each year with an increasing numbers of participation until 2015. The gay pride march in Istanbul started with 30 people in 2003, and in 2010, there were 5,000. The pride parades in 2011 and 2012 were attended by more than 15,000 participants. On 30 June 2013, Istanbul Pride parade attracted almost 100,000 people. The protesters were joined by Gezi Park protesters, making the 2013 Istanbul Pride the biggest pride event ever held in Turkey. The 2014 Istanbul pride attracted more than 100,000 people. The 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 pride parades were banned by local authorities, and participants were faced with police attacks. In June 2013, the first İzmir Pride took place with 2,000 participants. On 3 June 2018, the 6th İzmir Pride Parade peacefully took place with over 50,000 participants. Another pride took place in Antalya. Politicians from the main opposition party, CHP and another opposition party, BDP also lent their support to the demonstration. The pride march in Istanbul does not receive any support of the municipality or the government. In 2009, amateur football referee Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ came out as gay and was subsequently banned from refereeing football matches. In December 2015, the Turkish Football Federation was ordered to pay 23,000 lira in compensation for dismissing Dinçdağ. On 21 September 2011, the Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Şahin met with an LGBTQ organisation. She said that the government will actively work together with LGBTQ organisations. She submitted a proposal for the acceptance of LGBTQ individuals in the new constitution that Parliament planned to draft in the coming year. She was calling on Members of Parliament to handle the proposal positively. She asserted that "if freedom and equality is for everybody, then sexual orientation discrimination should be eliminated and the rights of these LGBTQ citizens should be recognised." On 9 January 2012, a columnist named Serdar Arseven for an Islamist newspaper called Yeni Akit wrote an article calling LGBTQ people perverts. The Court of Cassation penalised Yeni Akit with 4,000 TL fine and Serdar Arseven with 2,000 TL for hate speech. In May 2012, the BDP requested the writers of the new Turkish constitution to include same-sex marriage in that constitution. It was rejected by the biggest party in the Turkish Parliament, the AKP, and an opposition party, MHP, while supported by the main opposition party, the CHP. On 29 May 2013, a parliamentary research motion regarding LGBTQ rights in Turkey was proposed and discussed in the parliament of Turkey. Despite support from pro-Kurdish BDP, secularist CHP, and the abstention of Turkish nationalist party MHP, the motion was rejected by votes of the ruling party AKP. AKP MP Türkan Dağoğlu cited the scientific articles on homosexuality published in the US in 1974 and said, "Homosexuality is an abnormality. Same-sex marriages may not be allowed. It would cause social deterioration." For the research motion, CHP MP Binnaz Toprak said, "In the 1970s there were scientists suggesting that black people were not as smart as white people in the US. Hence the science of today doesn't accept the findings of those times. Your sayings can not be allowed." On 12 August 2013, the Constitutional Reconciliation Commission, which was drafting a new constitution of the Republic and was composed of four major parliamentary parties including Kurds, secularists, Islamists and nationalists, agreed to provide constitutional protection against discrimination for LGBTQ individuals. The draft was later cancelled. On 17 July 2014, Turkey's Supreme Court ruled that referring to gays as "perverted" constitutes hate speech. In November 2016, Turkey, along with Georgia, Israel, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam, were the only Asian countries in the United Nations to vote in favor of the appointment of an independent expert to raise awareness of the discrimination faced by the LGBTQ community and to find ways to properly protect them. In June 2018, the embassy of Turkey, along with ambassadors from 51 countries have signed an open letter of support for LGBTQ rights in Poland. ==Legality of same-sex relations==

in 2014 Gay sexual conduct between consenting adults in private is not a crime in Turkey. ==Recognition of same-sex relationships==

Turkey does not recognise same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnership benefits. ==Military service==

In Turkey, compulsory military service applies to all male Turkish citizens between the ages of 18 and 41. However, the Turkish military openly discriminates against homosexuals by barring them from serving in the military. At the same time, Turkey – in violation of its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights – withholds any recognition of conscientious objection to military service. Some objectors must instead identify themselves as "sick" – and some were forced to undergo what Human Rights Watch calls "humiliating and degrading" examinations to "prove" their homosexuality. In October 2009 the report of the EU Commission on Enlargement stated: "The Turkish armed forces have a health regulation which defines homosexuality as a 'psychosexual' illness and identifies homosexuals as unfit for military service. Conscripts who declare their homosexuality have to provide photographic proof. A small number have had to undergo humiliating medical examinations." Homosexuality remains grounds for expulsion for commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and military students under the Turkish Armed Forces Discipline Law. There is little support in the army in favour of greater acceptance; in a 2015 study asking 1,300 officers "whether homosexuals should be allowed to serve in the army", 96.3% answered negatively. ==Discrimination protections==

, the first openly transgender celebrity (singer) starts wearing makeup and feminine clothing in her performances and makes appearances on Turkish National TV (TRT) during the 1970s. , one of the prominent figures of the Turkish classical music who never commented on his sexual orientation, but the general public opinion was that he was homosexual No laws exist in Turkey that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in employment, education, housing, health care, public accommodations or credit. In October 2009, the report of the EU Commission on Enlargement stated: :There have been several cases of discrimination at the workplace, where LGBTQ employees have been fired because of their sexual orientation. Provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code on 'public exhibitionism' and 'offences against public morality' are sometimes used to discriminate against LGBTQ people. The Law on Misdemeanours is often used to impose fines against transgender persons. In 2011, Öykü Evren Özen, a transgender woman from the northwestern province of Bursa, has become a candidate for deputy from the main opposition party, Republican People's Party, or CHP. She was the first transgender lawmaker of Turkey during the general elections. The main opposition, CHP, proposed gay rights to the Turkish parliament on 14 February 2013. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are among the most vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees in Turkey today. Their access to rights and services is limited in Turkey as a result of anti-LGBTQ sentiments of state actors and the general public. In August 2013, three major political parties in the parliament including the secularist CHP which worked with BDP on the matter, conservative AKP and nationalist MHP, has agreed to provide constitutional protection against discrimination for LGBTQ people. In February 2015, the main opposition CHP introduced a bill to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in both public and private sectors. The bill seeks equal recruitment, pay, promotion, dismissal in the workplace and reforms in the Turkish Armed Forces Code of Discipline that would allow members of the military to serve openly. In 2015, the Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party publicly announced that they will have LGBTQ and Feminist candidates. Barış Sulu, a candidate of the left-wing People's Democratic Party (HDP), became the first openly gay man to run for the Turkish parliament. In January 2019, the 34th Labor Court in Istanbul issued the first verdict in a legal case surrounding three garbage truck drivers in the Kağıthâne Municipality who were fired by their employer after it was alleged that they were in a gay relationship with a 27-year-old garbage collector. The garbage collector, identified only as M.Ş., had told the authorities that he had engaged in sexual relationship "from time to time" with the three truck drivers. The drivers, aged between 43 and 51, had sued the municipality and its subcontractor in April 2018, citing what they described as unjust termination of their contract. On 29 January, the court ruled in favor of one of the plaintiffs, identified as R.S., concluding that his contract was unjustly terminated. His attorney had told the court that the plaintiff "had got nothing to do with that incident," while the company lawyers had claimed that his dismissal was part of "rightful termination" due to the sexual relationship at work. If the ruling is approved in the appeals process too, the subcontractor will be forced to return the plaintiff to his previous job or to compensate him. A hearing for one of the other two cases, which still continue, was held in February. ==Gender identity and expression==

In Turkey, the minimum age required to get sex reassignment surgery is 18. In order for one to change one's gender section on an identity card, the procedure must be conducted at a state hospital. Sex reassignment surgery is available in Turkey's major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Antalya. However, Turkey has very limited trans rights compared to other countries that allow gender reassignment. Hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals is not covered by the government healthcare system, and there is no direct discrimination protection regarding gender identity in Turkish law. ==Media regulations==

LGBT-themed DVDs can also be legally sold in Turkey, albeit DVDs with sexually explicit content may only be sold to people eighteen years of age or older. In 2013, a Turkish vendor was charged with selling "immoral" DVDs because the DVD movies featured gay sexually explicit content. Judge Mahmut Erdemli from the court in Istanbul overturned the criminal charges. He ruled that gay sex is natural, stated that an individual's sexual orientation should be respected, and cited examples of same-sex marriages in Europe and in the Americas. In 2023, the TV channel Halk TV was charged with insulting national and moral values after trans activist Esmeray Özadikti, who was a guest on the show, said, "I am sure that LGBT+ children, especially those from Generation Z, who are seeing me on the screen right now, are very happy and do not feel alone." ==Restriction of expression==

The rights of expression regarding LGBT topics have been eroded alongside the democratic backsliding in Turkey since 2013. In Turkey, everyone has the constitutionally protected right to hold a peaceful protest without prior permission, and may only be restricted on the grounds of national security, public order, prevention of commission of crime, protection of public health and public morals, and to protect the rights of others. According to its organisers, the Istanbul Pride parade in 2015 was denied permission on account with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. After it was held regardless, police dispersed the attendees with a water cannon. In 2016, it was banned again and arrests were made as participants tried to hold the rally regardless of the prohibition. It was banned again in 2017, and in 2018 it was banned again and arrests were made as participants tried to hold the rally regardless of the prohibition. It was banned again in 2019. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held online with no official interference. In 2017, the capital city of Ankara banned the public showing of films and exhibitions related to LGBT issues. The governor's office claimed the action was taken to provide peace and security. It stated that such exhibitions could cause different groups of society to "publicly harbour hatred and hostility" towards each other. In November 2017, the Ankara governor's office under state of emergency imposed an indefinite ban on LGBTI-focused public events. The emergency rule ended in July 2018, but the ban has not lifted. In October 2018, the government extended the ban to LGBTI-focused events generally without giving any idea about the end date. In May 2019, police in Ankara broke up a student Pride march at the Middle East Technical University, arresting at least 25 students. On 14 June 2019, the 7th İzmir Pride, the 3rd Antalya Pride and the 27th Istanbul pride were banned by the cities' governors. On 19 June, a court suspended said ban. On 22 June 2025, Turkish police dispersed a crowd gathered in İzmir for a public press statement by the 7th Izmir LGBT+ Pride Week Organizing Committee regarding the governorate's pride parade ban. After allowing the statement to be read, police detained 17 people. On 25 June 2019, the Governorship of Mersin banned all LGBTQ events to be held in the province for 20 days under the Turkish Law on Meetings and Demonstrations "with the aim of maintaining public well-being and public peace, preventing crimes and protecting public health, public morality and safety of life and property of citizens." The ban went in effect in the 5th Mersin Pride Week, which was to be held between 1–7 July. In June 2021, police blocked the first Eskişehir pride parade. ==Public opinion==

According to a survey conducted by the Kadir Has University in Istanbul in 2016, 33 percent of people said that LGBTQ people should have equal rights. This increased to 45 percent in 2020. Another survey by Kadir Has University in 2018 found that 55.3 percent of people would not want a homosexual neighbour. This decreased to 46.5 percent in 2019. Attitudes towards the legalization of same-sex unions in Turkey are mixed. A 2015 poll by Ipsos found that 27% of the Turkish public was in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage, while 19% preferred civil unions instead. 25% of those surveyed were against any form of legal recognition for same-sex couples and 29% stated that they did not know which option to choose. ==Living conditions==

Homosexuality is a taboo subject in Turkey and the culture of "honour killings" can be observed in some families murdering members (usually female) who engage in sexual behaviours regarded by some as morally inappropriate. The murder of Ahmet Yıldız, a 26-year-old Kurdish gay man from Şanlıurfa, may be the first known example of an honour killing with a gay male victim. ==LGBTQ civil rights organisations==

parade in 2012, Kızılay, Ankara The major LGBTQ community-based civil rights organisation is KAOS GL, established in 1994 in Ankara by students including Yasemin Öz. Lambdaistanbul, a member of ILGA-Europe, established in 1993 in Istanbul, was sued on the charges of acting against public morality. The prosecution argued that its name and activities were "against the law and morality." That ruling, sharply criticised by Human Rights Watch, was finally overturned by the country's Supreme Court of Appeal on 22 January 2009. During the early 1990s, the organisation's proposals for cooperation were refused by the Government Human Rights Commission. April 1997, when members of Lambda Istanbul were invited to the National Congress on AIDS, marked the first time a Turkish LGBTQ organisation was represented at the government level. During the early 2000s (decade), new organisations began to be formed in cities other than Istanbul and Ankara, for example, the Pink Life LGBT Association in Ankara, the Rainbow Group in Antalya and Piramid LGBT Diyarbakır Initiative in Diyarbakır. In 1996, another LGBTQ organisation, LEGATO, was founded as an organisation of Turkish university students, graduates and academicians, with its first office at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. The organisation continued to grow with other branches in numerous other universities and a reported 2000 members. In March 2007, LGBTQ students organised for the first time as a student club (Gökkuşağı – in English: rainbow) and Club Gökkuşağı was officially approved by Bilgi University. In June 2003, the first public LGBTQ pride march in Turkey's history, organised by Lambdaistanbul, was held at Istiklal Avenue. In July 2005, KAOS GL applied to the Ministry of Interior Affairs and gained legal recognition, becoming the first LGBTQ organisation in the country with legal status. In September of the same year, a lawsuit by the Governor of Ankara was filed to cancel this legal status, but the demand was rejected by the prosecutor. In August 2006, the gay march in Bursa organised by the Rainbow Group, officially approved by the Governor's Office, was cancelled due to large-scale public protests by an organised group of citizens. The organisations actively participate in HIV/AIDS education programs and May Day parades. In September 2005, the Ankara Governor's Office accused KAOS GL of "establishing an organisation that is against the laws and principles of morality." In 2011, advocacy and support group SPoD was established. On June 10, 2018, the 6th İzmir Pride was held in Alsancak. Around 50,000 of LGBTQ members, allies, and human rights supporters participated at the Pride, walking along the waterfront street, Kordon. It started on Kıbrıs Şehitleri Avune and it ended in front of Türkan Saylan Cultural Center. In April 2019, Ankara court lifted a ban on LGBTQ events in Turkey's capital. It is reported that it was Turkish LGBT+ rights group KAOS GL who managed to get it appealed after being unsuccessful last year. In September 2022, thousands of anti-LGBTQ demonstrators marched in Istanbul, demanding the censoring of LGBTQ organizations and the banning of their activities. In 2026, LGBTQ rights activist Defne Güzel was charged with "violating public morality" after her organisation, 17 Mayıs Derneği, published documents about intersex people. Istanbul Pride in Istanbul parade in 2012 Istanbul Pride is a gay pride march and LGBTQ demonstration held annually in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul. The event first took place in 2003 and now occurs each year on either the last Sunday of June or the first Sunday of July, to mark the end of Istanbul pride week. About 30 people took part in the first Gay Pride Istanbul. The numbers have increased exponentially each year, reaching roughly 5,000 people by 2010. The 2011 gathering attracted over 10,000 people, therefore making Gay Pride Istanbul the biggest march of its kind in the Muslim World. The 2012 pride march, which took place on 1 July, attracted between 10,000 and 30,000 people. Participants assemble in Taksim Square before marching the entire length of İstiklal Avenue. This is a wide pedestrian boulevard and one of Istanbul's most important public spaces, the frequent home of bayram and regional festivals. On 30 June 2013, the pride parade attracted almost 100,000 people. The protesters were joined by Gezi Park protesters, making the 2013 Istanbul Pride the biggest pride ever held in Turkey. The 2014 pride attracted more than 100,000 people. The European Union praised Turkey that the parade went ahead without disruption. On Sunday 29 June 2015, Reuters reported that Turkish police used a water cannon to disperse the gay pride parade In 2016, the pride march was banned by the local government "for the safety of our citizens, first and foremost the participants’, and for public order.". LGBTQ organizations have also not been allowed to make a press statement. The governorate of Istanbul once again claimed that a gathering of LGBTQ would not be allowed. "Within Law No: 5442, this request has not been approved due to the terror attacks that have taken place in our country and the area; because provocative acts and events may take place when the sensitivities that have emerged in society are taken into account; and because it may cause a disruption in public order and the people's- including the participants of the event- tranquility, security, and welfare." In 2017 the Istanbul Governor's Office yet again banned the LGBTQ Pride Parade, citing security concerns and public order. In 2018, for the fourth consecutive year the Istanbul Governor's Office yet again banned the LGBTQ Pride Parade, citing security concerns and public order, but around 1,000 people defied the ban, they were met with tear gas and rubber bullets. 11 participants were arrested. In 2019, for the fifth consecutive year the Istanbul Governor's Office yet again banned the LGBTQ Pride Parade, citing security concerns and public order. subsequently, opposition Member of the Grand National Assembly Sezgin Tanrıkulu of the Republican People's Party (CHP) lodged a parliamentary question to the Vice President of Turkey Fuat Oktay asking why the deputy governor of Istanbul had banned Istanbul Pride. He also asked how many LGBTQ members had been killed in the last 17 years, the time the ruling party Justice and Development Party (AKP) ruled the city, due to provocative hate speech, and raised concerns over discrimination against the LGBTQ community. On 29 June, hundreds of people defied the ban, they were met with tear gas, shields, pepper gas and plastic bullets from the Police. In June 2022, a small pride march was organized in Istanbul despite the ban. More than 360 people were subsequently arrested, according to the event's organizers. ==Summary table==