Turkish gay and human rights activists hold giant rainbow flags and shout slogans during the Gay Pride Parade on Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul on June 27, 2010. Photo by MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images
Turkey’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities face danger on all sides, facing state harassment and widespread discrimination.
Amnesty International has been campaigning on LGBT issues in Turkey for many years, but we cannot forget the heroic work of Turkish activists who have worked at great personal risk to protect the human rights of LGBT people in Turkey. Last month, one of these activists, Ali Eroglu, was awarded the 2013 David Kato Vision & Voice Award for his work with KAOS-GL, one of the first and most significant examples of an increasingly vocal LGBT movement in Turkey.
Ali Eroglu’s work is important because, as Amnesty reports, Turkey’s LGBT community faces powerful threats.
1. Harassment and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is common in Turkey. In one recent case that received media attention in Turkey, Turkish Football Federation referee Halil Ibrahim Dincida was harassed, disowned by friends and family, and suspended from his job after coming out as gay.
Government attitudes have reinforced discrimination: Turkish authorities have described homosexuality as a “disease” and rejected proposals to provide legal protections for LGBT citizens, and homophobic rhetoric from senior government officials has become the rule rather than the exception.
2. Violence. With frightening frequency, this culture of discrimination has led to violent attacks, such as the 2010 shooting of Ahmet Yildiz by his own father in what has been called an “honour killing”. Amnesty International continues to call for justice in this case. Transgender people in Turkey in particular face widespread violence, and it is dangerous to lodge a complaint with the police; Turkish police often treat complainants as criminals rather than victims.
3. Freedom of expression. The government has attacked expressions of LGBT identity with public morality laws. These cases are often as absurd as they are tragic. “Gay” is one of the terms blocked by government-sponsored internet filters. The movie “Sex and the City II” was banned from Turkish cable television because RTÜK (Supreme Council of Radio and Television) deemed its depiction of same-sex marriage “distorted and immoral.”
4. Freedom of Association. Turkish authorities have also attacked the right to freedom of association for LGBT citizens. LGBT organizations in Turkey have been repeatedly audited, and authorities have attempted to shut them down under the Public Morality Law. The government reportedly fined the LGBT organization Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) for submitting required paperwork early.
While Turkish courts have upheld the right of association for LGBT groups, the Supreme Court of Appeal noted that encouraging others to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is not protected by the right to freedom of expression and could lead to closure. While the court’s concerns may be unreasonable, the consequences are tragic and pave the way for further legal harassment of LGBT groups in Turkey.
5. Military service is an issue. Turkey has mandatory military service for all men, and gays cannot serve in the military because it considers homosexuality a disease. The reality for gays of military age is ugly: proving eligibility for an exemption is an incredibly humiliating process. Obtaining an exemption effectively “exposes” the individual, subjecting them to harassment and social sanctions. The exemption also limits subsequent employment opportunities.
Anyone who serves in the military and later discovers they are gay will be treated as a criminal, accused of “unnatural intimacy” and subject to dismissal.
Ways you can help:
Activists like Ali Erol are working hard to demand human rights for LGBT people in Turkey, but there is still much more to be done. You can support this effort.
Stay Updated!
You can follow our work on human rights issues in Turkey by liking our TURKRAN page on Facebook. Also consider joining Amnesty – USA’s Turkey Regional Action Network by contacting Natsumi Ajiki. Let’s make a difference together!
For more information about Amnesty’s work fighting for LGBT rights, please visit: Facebook or twitterStay up to date on important news including current activities for Uganda and South Africa and how you can help.
Take Action!
Send a letter, in your own words, to Prime Minister Erdogan urging the Turkish government to extend constitutional protections for the right to non-discrimination to sexual orientation and gender identity and to introduce comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.
address:
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister’s Office
Bus vacation request
06573, Ankara – Türkiye
Fax: Fax: +90 312 422 1899 (Secretariat)
Email: [email protected]
Greetings: His Excellency the Prime Minister
