21/10/2025 | Writer: Kaos GL
Numerous human rights organizations and members of parliament have reacted to the judicial package containing anti-LGBTI+ provisions; calls for solidarity and resistance have intensified.
Reactions to the 11th Judicial Package, which includes regulations targeting LGBTI+ people and has been reflected in the press, are snowballing. Members of parliament, human rights organizations, and civil society components continue to call for resistance, emphasizing that the proposed regulations violate the right to life of LGBTI+ people; they send messages of solidarity to prevent the bill from reaching the Parliament.
The DEM Party Women’s Assembly, MLSA, CHP Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Group Gökhan Günaydın, DEM Party MP Özgül Saki, Human Rights Association, HEVİ, SOLDEP LGBTI+, Colors of Resistance, Demir Leblebi, DSİP, University LGBTI+ Communities, TİP Party Council Member İrfan Değirmenci, We Will Stop Femicide Platform, DİSK Basın-İş, TGS Women and LGBTI+ Commission, CHP Youth Branch Gender Equality Commission, Amnesty International, LGBTI+ for Peace, EŞİK, İzmir Bar Association, DİSK Social Work, Women’s Defense, LİSTAG, KESK Women’s Assembly, and Halkevci Women have reacted to the judicial package containing anti-LGBTI+ regulations.
DEM Party Women’s Assembly: The draft of the 11th Judicial Package contains regulations that distance the legal system from the principles of equality and freedom, targeting different segments of society. These changes, which directly affect the lives of women and LGBTI+ people, bring hate speech onto a legal basis and pave the way for violence. Law cannot punish any belief, identity, orientation, or way of life; the moment it does, it ceases to be justice. As women, we are defenders of equal citizenship, peace, and coexistence in this country. The draft of the 11th Judicial Package serves not the plurality of society but uniformity. We defend the law of life over hatred, and equality over discrimination. We have not and will not accept any legal regulation that fuels hate crimes and targets LGBTI+ people!
CHP Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Group Gökhan Günaydın: We have not yet seen the draft. It has not reached the Parliament or the commission. When it arrives at the commission, we will discuss it within CHP’s authorized committees, think, evaluate, and state our position. It is very clear that the AKP is pursuing cheap politics by hiding behind certain value judgments. We will see what will be in the judicial package. Society has expectations. Will you meet the expectations of society, or will you try to weave your own cheap politics? We will all see this together.
DEM Party MP Özgül Saki: In the 11th Judicial Package, “behaving contrary to biological sex and showing attitudes and behaviors contrary to general morality” is punished with imprisonment. In other words, LGBTI+ people are directly targeted here. You have made your preparations and leaked it to the press to measure the public’s reaction. You will withdraw this law entirely! We will not allow it, we will not let it pass!
Human Rights Association: This draft fuels social polarization; it renders LGBTI+ people—who have long been targeted by political discourse—even more invisible and defenseless through legal regulations. The universality of human rights and the principle of equality are indispensable. Therefore, we announce to the public that we will fight to prevent this draft from becoming law in its current form. All political parties must work together to prevent this unconstitutional regulation from being enacted. We remind the Turkish State that it must act in accordance with the principles of a democratic state of law respectful of human rights, the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. LGBTI+ Rights Are Human Rights.
HEVI: While we talk about inclusive social peace and strive to build a culture of coexistence in the geography we live in, we have learned that the government’s 11th Judicial Package includes articles hostile to LGBTI+ people, aimed at destroying the culture of coexistence and the culture of peace. We know that LGBTI+ people, women, and everyone who sides with the struggle against hate will oppose these hostile policies. LGBTI+ people are not alone! Stop this process, which will criminalize millions of LGBTI+ people, immediately!
DSIP: Yesterday, we saw that the 11th Judicial Package leaked to the press included even harsher versions of previous anti-LGBTI+ legal amendment proposals. In this draft, being LGBTI+ becomes a crime punishable by imprisonment, a criminal condition. The criminalization of LGBTI+ existence is absolutely unacceptable. This draft should be evaluated as part of the “Year of the Family” process announced earlier this year by Erdoğan himself and later extended to ten years. In the draft, which is entirely designed to suppress the existence of LGBTI+ people, it becomes almost impossible for trans people to undergo gender affirmation, and under the name of “indecent acts,” people “who behave contrary to biological sex and general morality,” meaning LGBTI+ people, are to be punished with imprisonment. It is obvious that the target here is LGBTI+ people, but the wording is so vague that anyone who does not fit within the framework drawn by the government could be imprisoned. Therefore, the draft also intimidates all segments of society. An AKP minister claimed to be unaware of the draft, but by frequently keeping such proposals on the agenda, the government not only creates great pressure on LGBTI+ people but also legitimizes many practical attacks. The fundamental rights and freedoms of LGBTI+ people are an issue for all of society. It is clear that the fire that burns one segment of society will spread to all others. As the Revolutionary Socialist Workers Party, we stand with LGBTI+ people; we will continue to defend their fundamental rights and freedoms with all our strength. Through united struggle, we can throw this law into the trash! LGBTI+ rights are human rights.
You are not alone, lubunya!
University LGBTI+ Communities: With this 11th Judicial Package and your previous step-by-step transphobic decisions that block human rights, you have openly declared war against us, the LGBTI+ community. Against this now-declared war, we call out to all democratic public opinion, mass organizations, human rights associations, and human rights defenders: Let us together defend equal life, bodily autonomy, trans lives, and LGBTI+ rights against this transphobic, inhumane, and rights-violating 11th Judicial Package. Let us stand together with all our strength against these fascist regulations and plans, and defend an honorable life together.
TIP Party Council Member İrfan Değirmenci: What are you going to do? Set up concentration camps? We will resist this regulation of yours, which violates fundamental human rights and freedoms, until the end. No one’s existence can be a reason for imprisonment. Your intentions, reheated and reintroduced over and over again, encourage hate crimes. ENOUGH!
We Will Stop Femicide Platform: The 11th Judicial Package, expected to be submitted to Parliament soon, directly targets LGBTI+ people under the pretext of “protecting the family structure.” The government is trying to legalize its politics of hatred through regulations such as “banning publications contrary to the family” and “expanding the scope of the concept of obscenity” included in the package. The duty of the judiciary is not to judge our identity but to ensure justice. The right to equal citizenship is not anyone’s gift; it is the birthright of every individual in this country. We did not exist with your permission, and we will not disappear with your bans!
DISK Basın-İş: This draft fuels social polarization; it renders LGBTI+ people—who have long been targeted by political discourse—even more invisible and defenseless through legal regulations.
Amnesty International: Under the baseless guise of “protecting general morality” and “the family institution,” these proposed legal changes threaten the fabric of society. If enacted, they will constitute a serious violation of Turkey’s obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of LGBTI+ people and their allies without discrimination. These proposals, which could represent a significant backward step, must be met with determined resistance and decisively rejected.
EŞIK: The state should fulfill its duties, not act as a moral guardian! We reject this subjective, vague, arbitrary, and discriminatory social engineering document, which threatens the rights and freedoms of every citizen under the guise of a draft law amendment proposal being imposed on society. We call on all citizens to raise their voices to prevent the draft from becoming law. We address opposition parties and MPs: Do not allow this draft to enter Parliament. If it reaches Parliament, fight to prevent it from reaching the General Assembly. If it reaches the General Assembly, DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE VOTE! Let them play and vote by themselves. Do not become complicit in the lie that a political power holding a numerical majority and passing any antidemocratic law it wishes is legislating democratically. You represent the people. We will oppose this draft, which challenges the rights and freedoms of all citizens, to the very end. As the representatives of the people, hear our voices.
Izmir Bar Association: No legal regulation or policy targeting LGBTI+ individuals or restricting their access to rights can be accepted. If such a draft becomes law, it will not only obscure the existence and legitimacy of LGBTI+ individuals but also legitimize hate speech and acts of violence, increasing the risk of hate crimes. We do not accept the elimination of rights and freedoms gained through long struggles, and we once again emphasize that the draft should not be enacted in its current form. In conclusion, the “11th Judicial Reform Draft” has content that will roll back the acquired rights of children, women, LGBTI+ individuals, and society, and is incompatible with human rights law. The foundation of justice is freedom; the duty of the rule of law is not to punish differences but to guarantee equal citizenship.
Tags: human rights, media, lgbti
