In the early hours of a September Sunday, Turkish authorities swept across five cities in a coordinated operation that arrested over 150 people — activists, journalists, and protesters — under the banner of family protection. The crackdown, the broadest against LGBTQ+ communities in Turkey in recent memory, reveals how demographic anxiety and political identity can be weaponized through the quiet machinery of obscenity law. What is being contested here is not merely the right to gather or speak, but the older and more fundamental question of who belongs to the public life of a nation.
Turkey launches widest LGBTQ+ crackdown in years under 'family protection' guise
Over 150 people arrested during protests and raids; journalists detained for reporting; protesters teargassed by authorities; at least 62 held on remand.