Reacting to the leaked draft of the 11th Judicial Package (“11. Yargı Paketi”) which proposes the introduction of criminal penalties targeting Türkiye’s LGBTI community, Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for Europe, said:
“These proposals present a grave threat to the rights of LGBTI people and those who advocate for LGBTI rights and they must never see the light of day.
“For the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic, legislators could be considering the criminalization of any expression of LGBTI identities, consensual same-sex sexual activity, and access to vital gender-affirming healthcare. Under these proposals, people could face jail terms based on gender stereotypes, how they present themselves, and who they chose to be in a relationship with. If tabled and passed, any positive discussion of LGBTI related issues could also be criminalized for ‘encouraging, promoting or praising’ LGBTI people.
For the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic, legislators could be considering the criminalization of any expression of LGBTI identities and consensual same-sex sexual activity
“Under the spurious guise of protecting ‘public morality’ and ‘the family institution’ these measures would, in reality, threaten the very fabric of Turkish society. If passed into law, they would be a grave violation of the Turkish authorities’ obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of LGBTI people and their allies without discrimination. They would represent a hugely regressive step, and they must be resoundingly resisted and categorically rejected.”
Background
The 66-page leaked Draft law proposal on amendments to Turkish Penal Code and Some Laws includes amendments to the Turkish Penal Code, Turkish Civil Code, as well as other laws. This is the third time in the last year that a package of laws including measures targeting LGBTI people has been put into the public domain. The two previous ones were not discussed in the Justice Commission as per the procedure in Parliament.
The proposed amendment to Article 225 (Indecent Acts) of the Turkish Penal Code increases the sentence for “anyone who publicly engages in sexual relations or exhibitionism” to up to three years and states in the new second paragraph that “anyone who exhibits an attitude or behaviour that is contrary to the biological sex at birth and public morality, or who publicly encourages, praises or promotes such behaviour, shall be punished with imprisonment from one to three years.”
If the proposals are tabled and approved by Parliament, same sex couples carrying out symbolic engagement or wedding ceremonies would face up to four years in prison. Same sex marriage is not legal in Türkiye.
The justification stated for this amendment is “to raise physically and mentally healthy individuals and generations and to protect the family institution and social structure”.
Furthermore, the leaked document includes amendments to Article 40 of the Turkish Civil Code which would make gender-affirming procedures extremely difficult, if not impossible, and would place additional barriers for individuals seeking to obtain legal gender recognition. The proposed amendments include raising the minimum age to undergo the procedures from 18 to 25, reintroducing the requirement to be permanently deprived of reproductive abilities, and introducing further evaluations in state approved hospitals demonstrating that the gender affirmation is necessary for the well-being of the individual.
A new article is also proposed to the Turkish Penal Code, criminalizing people undergoing gender-affirming procedures. The new proposed article also criminalizes and imposes prison sentences for medical professionals who carry out such procedures.
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