02/06/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
LGBTI+ associations have reacted to anti-LGBTI+ provisions that have resurfaced with the 12th Judicial Package.
The anti-LGBTI+ measures that were expected to be included in the 10th and 11th Judicial Packages but were postponed following public backlash have now reappeared on the agenda of the 12th Judicial Package.
According to sources reached by KaosGL.org, a briefing note on the 12th Judicial Package was sent to senior AKP lawmakers. The package, which is planned to be brought before the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in June, will reportedly include provisions that criminalize LGBTI+ people and raise the minimum age for gender-affirming surgeries for trans people to 25.
Declaring, “We will not let our pride be packaged away. We are here with our pride, and we want to live with our pride,” LGBTI+ associations condemned the provisions included in the 12th Judicial Package.
The associations stated:
“This bill is not the product of strength, but of profound desperation and fear. When they tried to attack our rights in March and October last year, we stood together and forced those proposals to be withdrawn. Today, we face them with the same conviction and determination. We have seen this movie before, and we wrote its ending. Together with the millions who believe in equality and freedom, we will send this hate package-which the Ministry of Justice says it intends to implement-to the dusty shelves of history.”
The full statement reads as follows:
As LGBTI+ and LGBTI+ family organizations fighting for equality, freedom, and human rights across every corner of Turkey, we are here, and our voices are louder than ever before.
We are in June. We enter the Pride Month, a time when our streets, squares, and hearts are painted in rainbows and we celebrate our existence with pride. Yet, we are under the shadow of another draft hate law, continuously rehashed and brought before us by the government. We have learned that the anti-LGBTI+ legislative amendments, which they previously attempted to pass in the 10th and 11th Judicial Packages and which we threw into the trash through our immense solidarity, are now being brought back to the Parliament's agenda, disguised as the 12th Judicial Package.
You cannot criminalize us; our existence is not a crime!
According to the briefing notes obtained by KaosGL.org, this judicial package aims to:
- De facto block the gender affirmation processes of trans people, which is our most fundamental right to health,
- Usurp our bodily autonomy by raising the age limit to 25 for gender reaffirmation processes and imposing the condition of being unmarried or having no children,
- Threaten physicians who act in accordance with universal medical principles, as well as the trans people undergoing this medical process, with imprisonment,
- Send LGBTI+ people and human rights defenders behind bars by deeming it a 'crime' simply to declare our existence, express ourselves, organize, and demand equality."
We have won before, and we will win again!
This draft law is not a sign of power, but the product of profound desperation and fear. Just as we forced them to withdraw those bills by standing side by side when they tried to attack our rights in March and October of last year, today we stand against them with the very same faith and determination. We have seen this movie before, and we wrote the ending. Together with the millions who believe in equality and freedom, we will send this hate package, which the Ministry of Justice claims they 'intend to put into action', to the dusty shelves of history.
We call upon everyone for solidarity and resistance.
This attack is not only directed at LGBTI+’s; it is an assault on human dignity and bodily autonomy, international norms and standards on right to health, on the very idea of justice, on our hard-won rights, and the collective will to live together in this country.
We invite all professional chambers, human rights organizations, women's organizations, trade unions, political parties, and everyone who says, 'I want to live in an equal and free world,' to raise their voices against this hate law and to stand in solidarity.
With the joy of June Pride Month and the immense strength we draw from the righteousness of our resistance and struggle, we declare once more: We are not leaving; we are here. We will never give up on our lives, our rights, our bodies, or each other. Our pride cannot be contained in your packages.
The most powerful response to those who think they can package us away is the march for freedom and equality that we started when we had nothing but our pride. Our call is a call to share and multiply this pride!
Signatory organizations: 17 Mayıs Association (17 Mayıs Derneği), November 20 Association for Fighting Against Hate Crimes (20 Kasım Nefret Suçlarıyla Mücadele Derneği), Ankara Rainbow Families Association (GALADER) (Ankara Gökkuşağı Aileleri Derneği), Youth LGBTI+ Association (Genç LGBTİ+ Derneği), HEVİ LGBTI+ Association (HEVİ LGBTİ+ Derneği), Kaos GL Association (Kaos GL Derneği), Red Umbrella Sexual Health and Human Rights Association (Kırmızı Şemsiye Derneği), Lambdaistanbul LGBTI+ Solidarity Association (Lambdaistanbul LGBTİ+ Dayanışma Derneği), LGBTI+ Families and Relatives Association (LİSTAG) (LGBTİ+ Aileleri ve Yakınları Derneği), Muamma LGBTI+ Association (Muamma LGBTİ+ Derneği), Mersin 7 Colors LGBTI+ Association (Mersin 7 Renk LGBTİ+ Derneği), Özgür Renkler (Free Colors) Association (Özgür Renkler Derneği), Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association (Pembe Hayat Derneği), SPOD - Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (Sosyal Politika Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Derneği), ÜniKuir Association (ÜniKuir Derneği)
Tags: human rights, media, life
