Why do authoritarian regimes target the LGBTQ+ community?

Raids on gay bars and homes, hundreds of arrests and rhetoric about state responsibility to "protect families and children." Turkey's latest crackdown on LGBTQ+ communities is not such an outlier.

"It's not uncommon, we've seen it before," Dr Koen Slootmaeckers, from the international politics department at City St George's, University of London, told DW.

"Turkey's been doing this for a while, but it seems like a much higher intensity," Slootmaeckers said. "We've seen it in different places too. I think what we are seeing with the rise of the far right is a crackdown on anything that looks different. It's really about an us versus them narrative and a reinforcing of 'traditional family values.'"

Those values were cited by Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek after the weekend's crackdown: "As per the duty to protect families and children given to the state by the constitution, no criminal organization, abuse network or illegal activity which targets children, youths or families will be tolerated!"

The reference to protecting children from harm is also typical of authoritarian government actions against LGBTQ+ communities on a wider scale, added Slootmaeckers, whose work often focuses on gender and sexuality policy.

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"They're trying to bring back discourses around paedophilia and homosexuality being intertwined. It's not always direct but there is a definite tendency."

Sentiments such as those expressed by Gurlek have become increasingly normalized of late, according to a 2026 report from South Africa-based civil rights nonprofit, Civicus.