Eleven leaders of the Izmir-based Genç LGBTI+ association went on trial on Wednesday in a case rights groups say reflects an intensifying crackdown on LGBT organising in Turkey. The defendants are accused of “obscenity” and violating provisions linked to the protection of the family, charges their lawyer says are being used to criminalise lawful advocacy and association activity. If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison and the suspension of some civil rights.
The case centres on social media posts showing same-sex couples kissing and other illustrations linked to the group’s activities between 2019 and 2022. Authorities have treated those materials as obscene and tied the prosecution to Turkey’s constitutional emphasis on protecting family values. Amnesty International said the related criminal case was launched in October 2025 and followed a broader effort to shut down the organisation altogether.
Kerem Dikmen, the association’s lawyer, who is himself among those on trial because he served on the group’s supervisory board, said the proceedings were not really about obscenity at all. Instead, he argued, the state was trying to force LGBT people out of public life by targeting freedom of expression and freedom of association. Rights organisations have echoed that view, describing the case as part of a broader pattern of repression against LGBT activists and organisations in Turkey.
The trial comes only months after a court in December 2025 ordered the dissolution of Genç LGBTI+ on similar grounds. That ruling has already been appealed. Advocacy groups say the association was targeted over drawings and online Pride-related content that formed part of legitimate community and human-rights work, not criminal conduct. The next hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for October 14.
Although homosexuality is not illegal in Turkey, the political climate for LGBT people has grown harsher over the past decade. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and allied officials have repeatedly used anti-LGBT rhetoric, while public Pride events have faced bans and police intervention. Reuters has reported that authorities have banned Pride marches in Istanbul since 2015, usually citing security or public-order concerns.
The case also comes after leaked draft legal proposals in 2025 that rights groups warned could have criminalised LGBT identity and expression more broadly. Those proposals were not enacted, but campaigners say the trial in Izmir shows that, even without sweeping new legislation, Turkish authorities already have tools they are willing to use against LGBT civil society.
