18/03/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
The lawsuit filed against the broadcasting of a video calling for the “Big Family Gathering” while targeting LGBTI+ people as a public service announcement was rejected at all levels of the judiciary. Kaos GL took the case to the Constitutional Court, stating that RTÜK had disseminated hate speech.
A video prepared by the Yesevi Alperenler Ocağı Education, Culture and Solidarity Association for the “Big Family Gathering” held in Saraçhane on September 18, 2022, including statements targeting LGBTI+ people, was broadcast as a public service announcement by decision of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) following remarks by then RTÜK Chair Ebubekir Şahin. In the video, LGBTI+ people were targeted as “propaganda spreading like a virus,” and the public was called upon to oppose “LGBT propaganda and impositions,” amounting to incitement to hatred.
Following this development, Kaos GL Association filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of RTÜK’s actions. However, Ankara 4th Administrative Court rejected the case; subsequent appeals and cassation requests were also dismissed by the higher court and the Council of State, respectively.
Rejection by Administrative Court: “No hate speech in the PSA, within the scope of freedom of expression”
Reviewing the Association’s annulment request, Ankara 4th Administrative Court ruled that the statements in the public service announcement did not constitute hate speech and should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression. The court rejected the case on the grounds that the content served the public interest within the framework of the state’s positive obligations regarding “the protection of the family and children.”
Appeal and Council of State uphold the lower court ruling
After the first-instance court’s rejection, Kaos GL Association filed an appeal. In its petition, the Association emphasized, with direct references to RTÜK legislation, that the authority has obligations to prevent discriminatory broadcasts and to protect human dignity and private life, and that its duty to “prevent and combat hate” in broadcasting is clearly defined. However, the 10th Chamber of the Ankara Regional Administrative Court dismissed the appeal, finding the lower court’s ruling lawful.
Following the appeal process, Kaos GL Association took the case to the Council of State. However, the Council of State also rejected the cassation request, thereby upholding the lower court’s decision as final.
Application to the Constitutional Court: “Hate speech has turned into the discourse of a public institution”
The Association brought the case before the Constitutional Court. In the application, it argued that RTÜK, “rather than preventing discrimination, violated its negative obligations” and, by declaring as a public service announcement a video that labels LGBTI+ people as a “virus,” “disseminated a discriminatory public discourse.”
Stating that “hate speech by third parties has been transformed into the discourse of a public institution,” the Association underlined that the state cannot remain neutral in the face of such content.
“RTÜK has become a perpetrator of hate speech”
The application also argued that the broadcasts violated the right to private life, noting that portraying LGBTI+ people as “a societal threat” weakens their ability to exist in the public sphere and to express their identities. It stressed that by amplifying such content, RTÜK “has become a perpetrator of hate speech,” and that the justification of “protecting the family” cannot legitimize discriminatory interventions.
An unfair trial process
In terms of the right to a fair trial, it was stated that the first-instance court failed to address the claims raised in the application and did not conduct a sufficient legal assessment as to whether the video constituted hate speech.
The application recalled that RTÜK has a legal obligation to “prevent and combat hate speech,” and argued that the failure to fulfill this obligation, combined with an unfair trial process, resulted in a violation of rights.
Tags: human rights, media, life, family, trans, lgbti
