The surprising decriminalization of homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire

On August 9, 1858, the Ottoman Empire implemented a new penal code as part of an overall period of reform that lasted nearly 40 years. This new criminal code omitted the crime of homosexuality, thus decriminalizing homosexuality in the Empire and its successor, the Republic of Turkey. That’s 124 years before you couldn’t be arrested for being gay in the UK, and 145 years before the United States!

Surprised? I was too. We constantly hear tragic stories of LGBT discrimination, persecution, and hatred in the Muslim world. It’s not an exaggeration to say that being gay can get you killed in some Muslim countries. So how can it be that the Ottoman Empire, the very epitome of Islamic power for hundreds of years, would not outlaw something that some modern Islamic governments think should be punishable by death?

It turns out that this homophobia that we see is a relatively recent phenomenon. During the Islamic Golden Age (from about the 8th century to the 13th century), Muslim societies were remarkably accepting of homosexuality.

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Image Credits

Music Credits: "Swinging with the Sultan" by Doug Maxwell; accessed through YouTube Audio Library

[kamilnowak]

"Homosexuality" used to be called "Turkish love" in Poland during XVI-XVIIth Century.

[benoaktv]

My beloved Ottomans (Osmanli imparator’lugu) were way ahead of many countries...

[ThriveWithLouise]

Thank you for this video. Very enlightening to hear

[koseku]

so homophobia is a western thing. i was expecting this as a turkish. because most religious people in turkey are okay with gays here (not necessarily loving them tho)

[MarkusTronsg]

Until the late nineteenth century, there was less of an emphasis in the religious and legal spheres of what we would now call LGB persons, rather than on sexual activity itself. Same sex attraction was seen as part of the general human condition, and its physical consummation would have been glorified, tolerated or condemned depending on the particular culture. I believe the modern separation of individuals into specific categories has been both a blessing and a handicap.

[korybaggarley]

Great research! Thanks for this brief, concise and interesting tidbit. We once again see the social norms imposed upon our thinking from the Judeo-Christian world. The West would benefit from seeking to alleviate ourselves from these inhibitory yet illusive social rules.

[esramnor]

Dracula's brother was Nice Radul so nice Radul was Sultan Mehmed's boy friend

[bryanbradley]

They did it because too many men were doing young males

[bryanbradley]

Hey buddy Turkey is part of Europe 🤣 and the whole of Ottoman Empire was considered as Europe

[vadagane]

These pictures do not belong to the Ottomans, these pictures belong to the authors. They tell in their stories how homosexuals are punished. In other words, the fact that a few writers of Greek origin drew gay pictures in the Ottoman Empire does not represent the entire Ottoman Empire.

... One reason homosexuality was legal in the Ottoman Empire is that, in 1850, the Ottoman Empire completely transposed the French commercial code that coexisted with Islamic law and other existing legal systems, rather than replacing them. Contrary to the established view, the existence of European law did not improve Ottoman economic performance. In other words, it is like the events in 1850 that Abdulhamid gave Cyprus to the British so that his country would not lose any more land. To explain briefly, such incidents happen to every state, but there is absolutely no sodomy in the Ottoman palace and sultans. There are artists who describe how such perversions were punished in the public, some people thought that the Ottoman state belonged to the sultans and statesmen, but they were very wrong, this is a product of the people and homosexuality in the peoples of every state. For this reason, it would be wrong to call the Ottomans gay, instead you should say that there were homosexuals in every people. The event in 1850 is an event related to politics.
Regarding the legalization of homosexuality in the Ottoman Empire in 1850 NOTE: Legal does not mean that it is socially accepted. This means that homosexuality is not legally punished.

We accepted French treaty to become European. Thats why its legalized.

[mohammedw]

Ottoman empire is gay and non-muslim, Islam has nothing to do with this.

[suzmeyaglitransyaglikas]

I THOUGHT OTTOMANS HAD MORALITY AND DECENCY I HOPE THATS FAKE CAUSE IM ASHAMED I THOUGHT THEY WERE RELIGIOUS AND THEY WERE LIVING KNOWING DEATH OMG MAN THATS REALLY REALLY WEIRD XD