Turkey's 12th Judicial Package Includes Provisions Criminalizing LGBT People

In June 2026, the Turkish parliament is expected to consider the draft of the 12th judicial reform package. The document contains new restrictions for LGBT people, including raising the minimum age for gender transition and criminalizing same-sex unions.

According to sources from KaosGL and Bianet , the draft complicates the gender transition procedure. The age limit increases from 18 to 25. A prohibition on having children is added to the existing requirement of being unmarried. Medical reports will only be issued by ministry-approved hospitals after four evaluation stages. Doctors performing surgeries that violate these rules face 1 to 3 years in prison, while those organizing the process face 3 to 7 years.

The bill also introduces criminal penalties for same-sex ceremonies. Holding an engagement or wedding ceremony between people of the same sex can result in a prison sentence ranging from 1.5 to 4 years. Furthermore, the document proposes criminalizing public LGBT visibility under the category of “promotion or praising”.

The government previously planned to include these provisions in the 10th and 11th judicial packages but postponed them due to public protests.

The Human Rights Association (İHD) criticized the bill. Human rights advocates stated that the state is using criminal law to legalize the politics of hate. According to the association, the law should protect citizens rather than impose the government’s ideological norms on society, and attempts to link LGBT people with a threat to families or children constitute a form of discrimination.