LGBTQ rights in Turkey

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Turkey face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents, though the overall situation is considered to be less repressive than most other Muslim-majority countries.

The penal code adopted by the Ottoman Empire in 1858 contained no provisions criminalizing same-sex sexual activity. The Republic of Turkey inherited this framework after its founding in 1923. Convictions were rare even before 1858, in part because the judicial system required multiple eyewitnesses. Historical records indicate that European travelers visiting Ottoman Turkey reacted with shock to the visibility of same-sex relations, which they portrayed as evidence of Ottoman "lack of civility and morality". While parts of Western and Central Europe experienced what historians describe as "sodomy panics", marked by intense investigations and mass public executions, Ottoman-ruled regions like modern Albania, Bosnia, and Greece avoided similar witch hunts against homosexuals.

As a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention, Turkey provides a legal framework for asylum. It has served as a primary destination for LGBTQ asylum seekers from Iran and Arab countries, with numerous applicants receiving refugee status by proving the threat of persecution in their countries of origin. Transgender people have been allowed to change their legal gender since 1988. Although legal protections against discrimination regarding sexual orientation and gender identity have been debated, they have not yet been legislated.

In 2013, ILGA-Europe ranked Turkey 39th out of 49 countries regarding the protection of LGBTQ rights, but in 2024, it fell to the 47th position, followed only by Azerbaijan and Russia.

The first Istanbul Pride was held in 2003, making Turkey the first Muslim-majority country to host a gay pride march. For more than a decade, the march along with similar parades in Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Adana, Mersin and other cities were held peacefully, without public protests and violence. This stood in sharp contrast to the violent disruptions and bloody confrontations that occurred in countries like Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Russia. However, since 2015, the Turkish government has banned the parades, using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.