Turkey launches ‘My Family Is Safe’ raids targeting LGBTI+ groups and venues

Yesterday the Turkish state initiated a series of raids called “My Family Is Safe” across several provinces, targeting LGBTI+ associations, activists and venues. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said investigations have led to charges against 162 individuals, nine NGOs and 13 businesses, invoking allegations such as obscenity, prostitution, organized crime and illicit foreign funding, and linking the operation to the “2026-2035 Decade of Family and Population” and Presidential Circular No. 2026/4.

Yıldız Tar, editor of Kaos GL’s news outlet, condemned the moves as a declaration that merely being LGBTI+ is a crime, rejecting the obscenity label and pointing out that all donations are publicly reported to the Interior Ministry. The government also accused groups of exposing children to “obscene” content and attempting to “normalize” queer identities, claims the NGOs dispute. Critics highlighted that conversion-therapy practices, not LGBTI+ existence, constitute the real harm. The crackdown underscores a broader pattern of state-led persecution of sexual minorities in Turkey.