Turkish Court Adjourns Trial of 11 LGBT Association Representatives Until April 2027

The second hearing in the criminal case against 11 representatives of LGBT association Genç LGBTİ+ took place in İzmir, Türkiye, on October 14, 2026. According to ÜniKuir, the court adjourned proceedings until April 21, 2027, deciding to await an appeal in the separate case concerning the association’s dissolution.

According to human rights project Sessiz Kalma, the defendants are charged with violating the Law on Associations. The case concerns five social media posts from 2019–2022 whose images the authorities deemed “obscene”. Some of the works were connected to an online LGBT youth festival held during the pandemic.

The defence sought acquittal, arguing that the prosecution had not linked specific acts to individual defendants. Lawyers pointed to an earlier decision not to prosecute over the disputed posts. They also argued that protecting the family under Article 41 of the constitution does not conflict with defending LGBT rights.

Turkish lawyer Tolga Ersoy separately noted that his client joined the association’s supervisory board in 2023, after the disputed material had been published. He also said the board had no authority to intervene in those posts.

As outlined in a communication published on the website of the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, a civil court of first instance ordered Genç LGBTİ+ dissolved on December 11, 2025, citing the images’ content, public morality and constitutional protection of the family. The association appealed; the criminal court is now waiting for that appeal’s outcome.

LGBT university students founded Genç LGBTİ+ in İzmir in 2016. It supported LGBT youth through services including legal advice and psychosocial assistance. The first criminal hearing involving members of its governing and supervisory bodies took place on April 8, 2026.