Homosexuality in Turkey

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Gay Pride Parade in Istanbul 2008
Turkish miniature from 1773: ten men in an orgy with anal intercourse in the Ottoman Empire

In Turkey, homosexuality is a socially controversial topic that is perceived and discussed, but which is still taboo in large parts of society. The Turkey belongs within the Islamic world to the more tolerant countries and is compared to other Islamic countries secularly influenced. From a legal point of view, homosexuality has ceased to be a punishable offense since 1852, but if one's own homosexuality is made public, serious difficulties in social and professional life can be expected.

history

Cultural historians such as Bernard Lewis and Marshall Ludgon assume that homosexual acts were publicly practiced in the Ottoman Empire despite the cited Koranic prohibition . Khaled El-Rouayheb limits this thesis because the allegation of sodomy was considered one of the worst allegations. However, the term sodomy in the Ottoman understanding primarily only applied to anal intercourse . Since passionate recruiting and liking young men were not considered sodomy, this behavior was also done publicly.

There are many Ottoman love poems with homoerotic content in which gentle, young men are extolled. For some poets, beardlessness is an important criterion, after all, under their Ottoman understanding, an adolescent without a beard was not a real man, so liking him was not fornication.

Social situation

In Turkish society, homosexuality is seen as a deviation from normal sexual behavior, which is usually defined by the relationship between man and woman. Acting out homosexuality in Turkish society is largely not accepted. In a worldwide study by PEW in 2007 on the acceptance of same-sex love, Turks were asked whether society should accept homosexuals in their way of life. A majority of 57% answered no, only 12% of the group supported this statement, while 29% abstained.

In the collective consciousness of Turkish society, gays are seen as highly effeminate men who prefer the passive role in anal intercourse . This definition is z. B. used by the Turkish armed forces (see below). This definition goes hand in hand with a strong ostracism because, according to social opinion, it violates the role model of the traditional Turkish man. Masculine-looking gays who are in the active position are usually not considered homosexual. They are put into the category of straight people who have had homoerotic experiences. This is also not welcome, but is swept under the carpet. In the gay subculture, this group describes itself as "top" (literally translated = ball; the ball is round - a gay man is rounded. Similarly, gays refer to themselves as top ).

Lesbians are much less present in the public eye.

Laws

Homosexuality is legal in Turkey. There are no laws on this subject . In the Ottoman Empire , same-sex acts were no longer a criminal offense since 1852. For foreigners who were under the jurisdiction of the consulates, the criminal law of their home country applied. Since the Codice penale italiano of 1889 was adopted after the establishment of the Turkish Republic , it stayed that way. The age of consent is uniformly set at 18 years for vaginal and heterosexual and homosexual anal intercourse , as well as 15 years for all other contacts.

In 2006, the governor of Istanbul tried unsuccessfully to close down the gay and lesbian association Lambda . He relied on Article 56 of Turkish civil law, which forbids the establishment of immoral associations.

There are no anti-discrimination laws. Homosexual partnerships are not recognized by the state. The "United Nations Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" has still not been signed by Turkey.

Turkish armed forces

The Turkish military regards homosexuality as a "psychosexual disorder", homosexual men are theoretically not admitted to military service or are excluded from it if they become known. In fact, however, proof is often only possible under difficult circumstances. In many cases, for example, the military doctors request photos or video recordings of the applicant during sexual intercourse, but then only the “passive” sexual partner is considered homosexual. Such a certificate also has consequences in further life, for example when entering the civil service.

"Somebody spilled the wine" - Two men having anal intercourse in the homoerotic Ottoman factory Sawaqub al-Manaquib (19th century)

LGBTT movement in Turkey

Civil society

In Turkey, the two most important LGBTT organizations ( lezbiyen, gey, biseksuel, travesti ve transseksueller ) are Lambda Istanbul, which was founded in 1993 in Istanbul and KAOS GL , which was founded in 1994 in Ankara . Other LGBTT organizations emerged in the following years, such as the Pink Triangle Group in Izmir , Legato in Ankara and the Rainbow Group in Antalya . In 2003 the first demonstration for gay rights in Turkey's history took place on İstiklal Caddesi in Istanbul, organized by the Lambda Istanbul organization. An LGBTT community can be found primarily in Istanbul and to a lesser extent in Ankara, Antalya and Izmir. In rural areas in Turkey in particular, homosexuality is a taboo subject.

In 2005, a court prevented the Kaos GL group from being banned on the grounds that homosexuality did not violate moral codes. The Mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbaş , wanted to close the Lambda Istanbul group because the association was not compatible with either “general morals” or “Turkish family values”. In May 2008, an Ankara court banned the group. This was justified, among other things, with the fact that the group violated Article 41 of the Turkish constitution, which stipulates "the peace and well-being of the family" as a state goal. The ban on the Lambda Istanbul organization was lifted by the Ankara Court of Appeal at the end of 2008 .

politics

Until 2008 MP Zafer Üskül from the AKP was the first to accept an invitation to an LGBT congress. He was then portrayed by the Islamist press as a "lawyer for the perverts". LISTAG, a group of LGBTT parents, has been working against discrimination and for more acceptance of their children since 2008. At the Pride Parade in 2011 also took on the BDP in part supported parliamentarians.

Istanbul City Councilor Sedef Çakmak was the first openly homosexual person to be elected to political office in 2014. Her NGO SPoD LGBTI tries to get more openly homosexual people into politics with political academies and cooperation with parishes and parties.

Assaults

Violent transphobic and homophobic attacks as well as blackmail by the police or citizens against homosexuals are not uncommon. In a previously unpublished study by the Ministry of Justice before 2003, 37 percent of all gays and lesbians surveyed and 89 percent of all transvestites and transsexuals surveyed reported physical violence against them. In some cases, meeting places for gays are literally observed by organized gangs. These belong mainly to three groups. First, there are Islamic fundamentalists who consider it a godly act, second, youth nationalists who are told by organizations that gays are rich and decadent , and third, professional criminals who are looking for easy prey. Family pressure begins when lesbians refuse to marry, especially with lesbians. This ranges from psychological pressure to massive threats and honor killings . Support from the state power is rarely to be expected in these cases.

In 2009 civil rights activist Ebru Soykan was murdered. She had previously complained to the authorities about a man who threatened her. Soykan was committed to the homosexual group Lambda Istanbul. The murder of Soykan represents the second murder of a member of Lambda within a year. There have been attacks against people from the LGBT spectrum both before and after. The murder of the 26-year-old student Ahmet Yıldız on July 15, 2008 in Istanbul was described in the English-language press as probably the first " honor killing " of a man.

The Turkish Democratic Forum has carried out studies on hate murders of homosexuals in Turkey for the years 2007 to 2009 and listed 13 murders in 2007, 5 in 2008 and at least 4 murders in 2009. On May 21, 2008 the organization Human Rights Watch published under the title "We need a new law for liberation". The report is based on 70 interviews that document how homosexual and transgender individuals are beaten, robbed, prosecuted and threatened with murder. Human Rights Watch concluded that there was no adequate official response. In proceedings for homosexual murder, the courts assume “serious provocation” and reduce the sentences.

Scene and culture

Gay Pride in Ankara, 2012

The homosexual scene in Turkey has been in the big cities for 20 years. Istanbul has the liveliest gay scene. The Taksim nightlife district of the Beyoglu district has the highest density of bars and cruising areas for gays. Illegal prostitution is also practiced there. There are regular homosexual events. There is also a homosexual subculture in other large cities, although it is less open.

As usual in other gay scenes, acquaintances are made through cruising . A special Turkish meeting place are certain hammams that are only known to members of the scene. (The public tendering as cruising places would lead to their closure). They are the Turkish counterpart to the European gay sauna . Lesbians as well as gays are increasingly using internet portals to find partners.

media

watch TV

On television, the effeminate behavior of male showmasters, as well as the appearance of transsexual and transvestite artists, is a matter of course and is sometimes very popular. However, open commitments to homosexuality are rare and strongly taboo. The world-famous US series The Denver Clan (Dynasty) was not allowed to be shown in Turkey because one of the main characters (Steven) was openly gay. Similarly, the Turkish regulatory authority for radio and television RTÜK , which is known to be restrictive, fined the station e2 for broadcasting the series Hung on the grounds that it propagated a “pathological relationship” which “could threaten the intact sexual health of the population”. In the series, the main character's son was gay. Nevertheless, there was a premiere on Turkish television in 2010: the broadcaster a-tv showed a gay couple half-naked in a bed in a TV series "Kılıç Günü".

Movie

Aydin Arakons Ver elini Istanbul (in German Give me your hand, Istanbul ) from 1962, in which two women kiss, can be viewed as the first Turkish film with the first homosexual scene . The first gay protagonist appeared in 1980 in the film Beddua (in German curse, curse), in which the artist Bülent Ersoy, who was not yet transsexual in Turkey at the time, also played a leading role. Ferzan Özpetek's Hamam - The Turkish Bath is considered one of the first films with an explicitly homosexual theme . The life and problems of Turkish LGBT people are covered in documentaries such as The Other Istanbul and Hatice Aytens Out of Istanbul . Güneşi Gördüm - I saw the sun (2009), a film by Mahsun Kırmızıgül that deals with several forms of discrimination, focuses on the homosexual character Kadri in the finale. In 2011 the controversial film Zenne - Dancer was released in Turkish cinemas, which deals with the murder of the 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz (2008) in Turkey. In the documentary by Can Candan Benim Çocuğum ( My Child ), parents of five homosexuals tell their experiences with their children coming out .

Print

KAOS GL publishes the quarterly magazine of the same name, KaosGL , which is the only magazine to deal with homosexual topics. The magazine Hevjin was published in 2010 for homosexuals from the Kurdish minority in Turkey . It circulates with 2000 readers in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey.

See also

Web links

Commons : Homosexuality in Turkey  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Before homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic world, 1500–1800. by Khaled El-Rouayheb, p. 3.
  2. ↑ Walter G. Andrews, Najaat Black, Mehmet Kalpaklı: Ottoman lyric poetry: an anthology. P. 16.
  3. ↑ (PDF file; 1.85 MB) ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. PEW Research 2007 p. 35. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pewglobal.org
  4. ^ The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality , Turkey, HU Berlin.
  5. ↑ a b Helmut Graupner: The Treatment of Homosexuality in the Member States of the Council of Europe (Criminal Law Comparison) ( Memento of the original from December 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , As of August 17, 2003, rklambda.at (PDF document; 38 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rklambda.at
  6. ↑ Magnus Hirschfeld: The homosexuality of man and woman. Berlin 1914, p. 852 - Comparative overview of the anti-homosexual penal laws ( archive.org ).
  7. ↑ a b Constanze Letsch: Post from Istanbul - Rainbow over Taksim Square , perlentaucher.de, August 30, 2007.
  8. ↑ a b c Jürgen Gottschlich: Homosexuality in Turkey - The long way to tolerance , taz.de, May 28, 2008
  9. ↑ United Nations Declarations and Resolutions on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
  10. ↑ Turkey: Porn for General Der Spiegel, October 30, 2010
  11. ↑ a b c d Violence against homosexuals in Turkey , Deutschlandfunk, May 29, 2008
  12. ↑ Johanna Lühr: outside then you are , Tagesspiegel, May 4, 2008.
  13. ↑ Dorte Huneke: Gay in Istanbul - homosexuals lead a double life In: Der Spiegel - Unispiegel, October 26, 2007.
  14. ↑ a b Turkey bans homosexual groups , queer.de, May 30, 2008
  15. ↑ Time: The Pink Crescent , July 1, 2008
  16. ↑ Queer.de: Ban on Lambda Istanbul lifted , December 1, 2008
  17. ↑ LİSTAG (Turkish)
  18. ^ Hürriyet Daily News : Homosexuals demand rights at Istanbul's Gay Pride March. June 27, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  19. ↑ LGBTI activist Sedef Çakmak is now a Municipal Assembly Member . In: LGBTI NEWS TURKEY . March 2, 2015 ( lgbtinewsturkey.com [accessed August 6, 2018]).
  20. ↑ Turkey should better protect homosexuals , diestandard.at, accessed on March 14, 2009.
  21. ↑ The Turkish Democratic Forum described this case in detail in English under The Killing of Ahmet Yildiz , accessed on March 31, 2011. (In German: A film on RTL and NTV article and film from May 15, 2010 on this case.)
  22. ↑ The series can be found in English under the heading "Hate Crimes in Turkey" ; accessed on March 31, 2011.
  23. ↑ a b The report in English can be found at this address from HRW ; accessed on March 31, 2011.
  24. ^ From the report of a commission from Kaos GL of October 27, 2007, which the DTF has translated into English with the title Hate Killings ; accessed on March 31, 2001.
  25. ↑ aksam.medyator.com ( Memento of the original from July 10, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / aksam.medyator.com
  26. ↑ youtube.com
  27. ↑ birgun.net from February 20, 2009  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.birgun.net  
  28. ↑ Benim Çocuğum belgeseli  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.listagfilm.com  
  29. ↑ Euroasianet , August 2010