Sorry to break it to you, Turkish tops – your position in bed isn’t going to boost your chances of military recruitment.
A viral post has sparked confusion online by suggesting that Turkiye’s armed forces only allow top gay men to serve, while bottoms are barred. The claim, which originated from a misleading screenshot circulating on the social media platform X, has been thoroughly debunked.
On Thursday (17 July), X user @karmavoodo shared a post expressing disbelief over the supposed policy:
“Wait, is this real?”
The tweet included a screenshot suggesting:
“Passive (bottom) gay men are not allowed to serve in the Turkish military,”
“Active (top) gay men are permitted.”
With over 7.5 million views, the tweet quickly fuelled speculation about whether Turkiye’s military really recruited from the top bunk only.
Wait is this real 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/29GP2tRlX1
— Karma (@karmavoodo) July 17, 2025
The Truth: This Claim Isn’t Real
The image was sourced from Equaldex, a collaborative platform tracking global LGBTQ+ rights laws and data. The post in question originated during Equaldex’s closed alpha phase in 2013, and was based on outdated information from a 2009 European Commission report.
The report referenced Turkiye’s discriminatory policies, which define homosexuality as a “psychosexual illness” and bar openly LGBTQ+ individuals from serving in the military. However, it made no mention of sexual roles or preferences determining eligibility.
Debunking the Viral Myth
Despite no basis in policy, the rumour has lingered online for years, partly due to repeated, unverified edits to Equaldex entries. One 2022 update falsely claimed gay men had to submit photographic proof of receiving anal sex to be exempt from service.
This has since been corrected.
Equaldex’s current entry states that:
“Until 2015, in order to be exempt, gay men had to prove that they were homosexual by providing photographic evidence of them being on the receiving end of anal intercourse.”
Even this updated entry, however, remains inaccurate. While Turkiye does demand proof of homosexuality from those seeking exemption from military service, it does not require sexually explicit imagery involving anal intercourse.
The BBC reported in 2012 that a young man was exempted from service after submitting a photograph of himself kissing another man, highlighting how absurd and degrading the proof requirements already are, without resorting to pornographic evidence.
A Broader Picture of Discrimination
Turkiye, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s fiercely anti-LGBTQ+ leadership, maintains discriminatory military policies that view homosexuality as a mental disorder. Those who identify as gay can avoid military service, but must undergo invasive medical and psychological assessments — a process widely criticised as dehumanising.
Applicants seeking exemption are often subjected to humiliating interrogations or forced to produce deeply personal evidence of their sexual orientation. Though the military doesn’t require tops or bottoms, its approach to queerness in general remains hostile and out of step with international human rights standards.
