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| Europe | |
| Turkey's homosexuals face rising discrimination | |
| 2010-04-06 | |
[Al Arabiya Latest] When Turkey's family affairs minister recently described homosexuality as a curable disease, she was roundly criticized for discrimination and flouting human rights. But for activists her remarks only underscore what they say is increasing prejudice, discrimination and violence -- even from police -- against homosexuals and transgender people in this Muslim-majority country stuck between its conservative roots and flourishing modernism.
"In February alone, five people were killed. In Antalya (southern Turkey), a transsexual friend was brutally murdered; her throat was slit. In Istanbul, another was stabbed to death. Three young men... killed her for money, but she only had 70 liras ($46 dollars, €34) and a gold chain," Demir said, adding that three gay men had also been killed in Anatolia. The violence comes against a backdrop of clashing values in this secular democracy that is vying to join the European Union. Unlike other Muslim countries, same-sex relationships have never been criminalized in Turkey. Prostitution and sex change operations are legal. Several gay and transgender bars have flourished in major cities such as Istanbul, while a transsexual singer and homosexuals figure among the country's top celebrities. There are also several associations fighting for gay and transgender rights that organize regular conferences, parades and demonstrations. But at the same time, traditional Islamic values hold sway over large sections of this macho society, which frowns upon displays of femininity. Discrimination is rife: transgender people are forced to work in the sex sector as nobody will employ them while homosexuals feel they have to hide their sexual identity so as not to risk losing their jobs. Last year, for example, a football referee came out on television, only to see his refereeing license revoked. The Turkish army classifies homosexuality as a "disease" while police are notoriously harsh against transsexuals. "Just yesterday, police raided the flat where we meet our clients, breaking down the door," Ece, a 43-year-old transsexual, said. "They arrested everyone and beat one of the girls with a truncheon. She had to have three stitches to her head," she added. Although the Islamist-rooted government has enacted a series of rights reforms to boost the country's EU bid since it came to power in 2002, it has turned a blind eye to homosexual rights. In March, Family Affairs and Women's Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf declared in a newspaper interview that she believed homosexuality was a "biological disorder, a disease." | |
| Posted by:Fred |