Sex and cis trouble in Turkey: the 11th Judicial Package and trans people

In 2025, declared the Family Year by the Turkish government, the expected amendments within the 11th Judicial Package are a recent manifestation of anti-gender movements. These amendments primarily criminalise trans people through cis-heteronormative gender discourse, introducing new threats alongside the persistent challenges faced by the trans community in Turkey. Drawing on critical trans-feminist discourse analysis, this study examines the 11th Judicial Package Draft in relation to previous legislative texts concerning trans people, with particular attention to the use of the term ‘sex.’ In the Turkish context, 'biological sex' and 'social sex' are respectively used for 'sex' and 'gender'. This discourse reinforces the assumption that sex is the natural foundation of gender, and in Turkey, this cis-heteronormative understanding of gender largely remains unquestioned. Consequently, public opposition to the draft does not focus on the inclusion of 'innate biological sex' (as in the wording adopted in the draft) in the penal code, but rather on the section concerning 'attitudes and behaviours contrary to public morals'. Since ‘sex’ still operates as a powerful tool of cis-heteronormative patriarchy in shaping understandings of gender, we argue for dismantling what we call ‘sex and cis trouble’ in Turkey, a framework that underpins sacred-family discourses, fuels anti-gender politics, and materialises trans bodies as troubled existences.