LGBTI Equal Rights Association for Western Balkans and Turkey
LGBTIQ+ persons in Turkey are in a precarious situation with the absence of laws to protect them and the extreme hatred of society fostered by the state. Since the state of emergency, human rights violations against LGBTIQ+ persons have continued. The COVID-19 pandemic escalated such violations, in which LGBTIQ+ persons were held accountable for it and other diseases and were targeted virulently by high-level officials. The anti-LGBT movement in Turkey was expanded during the measures taken against Covid-19. The widespread discourse targeting LGBTIQ+ persons and severe hate speech has become visible and digital violence against LGBTIQ+ persons escalated in line with this discourse implying homosexuality is a sin and brings diseases. The Covid-19 pandemic has also been a process that led to violations of rights, especially for transgender persons; where some trans women were detained by the police on the pretext of pandemic bans, and some cannot access hormone therapy treatments. The announced decree for annulling Turkey’s ratification of the Istanbul convention has fostered this oppressive atmosphere even more.
Then after the COVID-19 measures have been loosened, in Turkey, where neither legislation nor its implementation is LGBTIQ+ responsive, impunity against hate murders continues to be the country’s reality due to the mainstreamed anti-LGBTIQ+ discourse. The hate murders against LGBTIq+ persons were reported as 8 in 2021, 3 in 2022, and 1 in January 2023. This shows us that LGBTIQ+ persons are still vulnerable as well as the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons are still violated, and LGBTIQ+ NGOs in Turkey are still oppressed. Also, they are not able to access coping mechanisms and empowerment strategies. As they lack legal and psychosocial support and economic stability, their well-being is ruined, and their rights are ignored and denied behind the curtains.
Regardless of Turkey’s anti-LGBTIQ+ position, the associations like Kaos GL, 17 May Association, Pink Life, Istanbul Pride, Mersin Muamma LGBTIQ+, Bursa Free Colors, and many others are working tremendously to promote and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democracy in Turkey while trying to report the violations to make them visible.
According to the recent LGBTIQ+ Human Rights Report of 2022 published by Kaos GL, the targeting strategy of the government against LGBTIQ+ persons shows itself in the detentions of many LGBTIQ+ activists, especially arrests of the ones attending peaceful demonstrations. The other method of messing with LGBTIQ+ persons reflected itself in the house raids on the ground of prostitution followed by physical violence. Those are just the most prominent strategies of the government against LGBTIQ+ persons. The very same report implicitly highlights that behind all the human rights violations faced by LGBTIQ+ persons stem from a governmental policy that can be briefly identified as “hindering the promotion and visibility of LGBTIQ+ existences in the public realm”; coupled with the interventions resulting in different forms of violations, not limited to freedom of expression, freedom of association and right of peaceful assembly, freedom torture and ill-treatment and right to the integrity of the person, right to liberty and security, right to work, right to privacy, right to housing, right to life, right to asylum, right to education, right to health, etc.
“Living in Turkey as a transgender or non-binary individual exposes you to a heightened risk of discrimination and oppression by the government and society. Unfortunately, this marginalization often infiltrates one’s daily life, creating a constant atmosphere of oppression. Coping with this reality can be challenging, but individuals may develop mechanisms to navigate their experiences.“
In their own words by A., NB, 28 years old
In addition, LGBTIQ+ persons living in Turkey faced one of the most challenging times ever in February 2023 following the earthquake that hit Turkey’s southern and southeast regions and the north and western areas of Syria. According to the 17 May Association’s Climate 101 report, it is a worldwide fact that during disasters like earthquakes, LGBTIQ+ persons fail to access emergency aid since they are not mostly recognized as acceptable recipients of state emergency support and aid programs. They are not included in statistical studies, and their needs become invisible. Similarly, nonbinary persons may not have access to gender-specific services and emergency shelters or face other difficulties in accessing shelter-related services. Fear of discrimination may also prevent them from accessing any other services available. While persons having more economic power can cope better with the adverse effects of emergencies since they can access quality food and potable water resources more efficiently or they can leave their cities quickly after the disasters, LGBTIQ+ persons mostly having low-income opportunities cannot do the same since LGBTIQ+ persons in general and transgender persons in particular face financial difficulties stemming from discrimination and intolerance making it harder for them to find safe and inclusive work and shelter opportunities. The LGBTIQ+ survivors face the same situations and discrimination after surviving the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Ankara LGBTIQ+ Earthquake Solidarity found by LGBTIQ+ associations in Ankara/Turkey encountered various discrimination experiences of LGBTIQ+ survivors, from not being able to access food and water to not being able to access shelter in public spaces on account of gender identity and sexual orientation (perceived gender identity). Also, the compounded sufferings and additional stigmatization were faced by this cohort of LGBTIQ+ survivors, including the LGBTI+ asylum seekers and refugees living in the earthquake region.
While living in such an atmosphere where the government does not ease the daily lives of LGBTIQ+ persons and ignores the LGBTIQ+ persons in emergency situations, being non-binary is also challenging, unsurprisingly.
Non-binary person identifies themselves and their gender outside of the binary definitions of man or woman, masculine or feminine, while committed to living as free and accurately to themselves as possible. But for each nonbinary person, being NB can mean something much more diverse and peculiar to them. For some, being NB can involve the feeling of dysphoria or not, the need for gender affirmation or not. Or, being NB can involve changing names or/and pronouns and expecting respect for being referred to with the correct gender pronoun chosen or changing physical appearance, make-up, and wardrobe choices, or it can involve nothing at all. No NB had to prove their nonbinary identity to anyone.
“My non-binary identity has been vague since the beginning. I identify as non-binary. Even in the queer community, my gay identity dominates my non-binary identity. In my romantic and friendship-based relationships, there have been expectations over my assigned gender role. If my partner was unfamiliar with queer theory, I was expected to fulfill my “male” tasks inside or outside the relationship. It is generally not understood that I call myself gay because if I dig into my gender journey, the romantic discourse will contain only me as a topic. In the academic context, using they/them pronouns has also been a problem. I like the gender-neutral-default third-person pronouns of Turkish. Still, as a student of an English-speaking University, I had to explain to so many of my teachers that I really use they/them pronouns because I don’t identify as male or female, and not because I just want to be fancy.”
In their own words by Y.A., NB, 21 years old
Embellished by self-love and feeling loved, being N.B. is about feeling like the most authentic version.
“The truest version of ourselves is linked to self-love where we feel real and valid, giving us a break from self-judgment while hindering others from policing us. It is a state of a conduit of gender expressions, where each is a state of queerness. It is not about what is in your pants and under your shirt, but a journey where all the parts of the self are combined and make the whole in its own authentic format.”
In their own words by O., NB, 39 years ol
While feeling the most authentic version of an NB person, what is the significance of being acknowledged and loved? Living in the spiral of marginalization, discrimination, and alienation, NB persons grow up with the experiences of bullying at school; family rejection; discrimination in employment; in health-care settings, and in public use of the facilities; living at risk of targeting and violence, battery, abuse, and ill-treatment, while having no right to recognition before the law. The stigma and prejudice against them rise due to their perceived gender identity as being labeled as different from the majority. Therefore, self-identification/self-realization is an indispensable element of overcoming past negative experiences to reach the most authentic self.
As a starting point, adopting anti-discrimination legislation that includes diverse gender identities (and sexual orientations) among prohibited grounds and adopting legislation on hate speech and crimes accepting LGBTIQ+ phobia as an aggravating factor in the sentencing process can help an NB person to enjoy their most authentic self. However, in countries like Turkey, where gender-diverse persons are ignored, although the governments have the power to end the ordeal that gender-diverse persons have to face by bringing inclusion politics, any positive minor attitude change by individuals can affect the feeling of inclusion.
For example, where NB persons are not comfortable with gendered pronouns, their wishes shall be respected without making any blunders by avoiding words and sentences that imply two genders in addressing them. To be more specific, instead of addressing them with binary language such as lady, girl, etc. (or in addressing the group of persons that may include gender diverse ones), instead, choosing more inclusive alternatives such as ‘folks,’ ‘gang,’ or ‘everyone’ is substantial in respecting the NB persons’ self-realization. This way, the feeling of being acknowledged and valid can be realized. Being seen as valid also fosters the feeling of being loved.
“In such a world, where it is so difficult to love it as itself, as in Arendt’s amor mundi – the hardship of loving the world as it is, with all the evil and suffering in it. Loving the world starts with loving ourselves and loving others. As the transition of the mind to greater perfection occurs, we feel joy, as Spinoza states. The joy seems to be felt with mutual understanding, acknowledging attitude, affection, and love, which is always preferable to hatred. In ‘Within a Budding Grove, Part II,’ Marcel Proust states, ‘when we are in love, our love is too big a thing for us to be able altogether to contain it within ourselves. It radiates towards the loved one, finds there a surface which arrests it, forcing it to return to its starting point, and it is this repercussion of our own feeling which we call the other’s feelings, and which charms us more than on its outward journey because we do not recognize it as having originated in ourselves.” In the sense of such understanding of love, it would not be uncanny to expect micro affirmations against microaggressions, especially from our loved ones, as the reflection of our own self, from the chosen family, where we feel secure and safe.”
In their own words by O., NB, 39 years old
This is also the case for LGBTIQ+ activists and LGBTIQ+ NGOs in Turkey, living in a climate of rights violations, criminalization, targeting, and oppression. Feeling valid and loved are this group’s well-being and protection needs. When this kind of protection and well-being needs are not met, sustainable and conducive activism will not be possible without empowerment and resilience. To not feel like we are shouting against the wind, we must venture into the world to change it by being protected by the bundle of love around us.
“From a queer perspective, love is not limited to romantic relationships. Love is a multifaceted emotion that manifests in different forms, including platonic, familial, and community love. It is a feeling that provides a sense of safety, belonging, and support, reminding individuals that they are not alone in their struggles. Finding love and acceptance can be challenging for many marginalized communities, including the LGBTIQ+ community. As a result, individuals may seek relationships with people who share similar experiences and values, creating a sense of solidarity and mutual support. This sense of belonging can be essential for individuals who face discrimination and oppression in their daily lives. It is essential to recognize that love is not a fixed concept and can take on different meanings and forms for different individuals and communities. By embracing the diversity of love, we can create a more inclusive and supportive world for all individuals, a sense of belonging, solidarity, and safety. For many, this community provides a space for authentic self-expression and a source of empowerment.”
In their own words by A., NB, 28 years old
NOTE: This article was written as a part of the “Strengthening the Trans, Non-Binary, and Intersex Caucus in the Western Balkans and Turkey region” project implemented by ERA’s TNBI Caucus.