Human rights violations against LGBTQ+ individuals are escalating in Türkiye, where Pride Marches and Pride Month events have been banned for more than a decade. A new draft law package expected to be submitted to parliament soon could further increase pressure on the LGBTQ+ community. However, in a rare positive development, a landmark court ruling has reaffirmed the protection of LGBTQ+ rights and the principles of freedom of thought, artistic freedom, and expression.
The court has overturned the ban on “Turn and See Back: Revisiting Trans Revolutions in Türkiye,” an exhibition hosted last summer by Depo, one of Istanbul’s leading independent art and culture venues. The exhibition was shut down shortly after opening because “it could provoke reactions from certain groups due to social sensitivities and could cause provocation.”
Organised by the 10th Trans Pride Week Exhibition Collective, the exhibition opened on 26 June 2024, but was banned on 11 July following a notice from the Beyoğlu District Governor’s Office. Authorities also ordered the removal of all related content from the internet and social media platforms.
Announcing the court’s decision on social media, the organisers described the ruling as “a sign of hope at a time when intolerance toward LGBTQ+ identities and expressions continues to manifest itself in various forms in Türkiye.” They added: “As the court ruling reminds us, in a country governed by the rule of law and respectful of human rights, the state’s positive obligation is not to restrict the visibility of diverse identities, but to stop those who attack them.”
Asena Günal, director of the Anadolu Kültür organisation, which includes Depo, shared her views with Freemuse. While describing the decision as encouraging, she noted that it is not final, as the Beyoğlu District Governor’s Office plans to appeal and may take the case to the Court of Appeals. According to Günal, although administrative courts occasionally issue more liberal rulings, the government’s restrictive stance has become increasingly apparent.
Günal also drew attention to the draft 11th Judicial Package, which contains discriminatory provisions directly targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and artists. She warned that pressure on LGBTQ+ visibility and expression is likely to intensify. “Two days after the statement about the exhibition decision, we gathered in Kadıköy to protest the 11th Judicial Package, which directly targets LGBTQ+ existence,” she said. “The police prevented us from reading our press statement or even holding banners. Although I see the lifting of the exhibition ban as an important step, I am not hopeful about the coming period. Everything related to LGBTQ+ visibility is being banned. The new bill even goes beyond visibility, seeking to criminalise existence itself.”
Türkiye is moving past the “Year of the Family 2025”, a government-led initiative ostensibly to counter its declining birth rate by promoting traditional family values – a time when cultural expressions were banned for being seen as threats to traditional values, undermining artistic freedom and other fundamental rights. The new draft law signals that anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric could soon be formalised as state policy. In this context, ongoing resistance and the defence of human and artistic rights have become more crucial than ever.
By Özlem Altunok, Freemuse Türkiye Researcher
