This is Pride Week
This is Pride Week
June for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, people is the Pride Month. It is the time to take on the street to Lady Gaga’s anthem on acceptance, “Born This Way.” LGBT communities around the world hold events in time with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots that kick-started the gay rights movement in the United States. Turkey is no exception and today is the first day of Pride Week.
ANF spoke to Ruzgar, Lambda (Turkish LGBT main organization) member and one of the organizers of this year Pride Week.
* Let's start from the association. When it was born, what do you do?
Lambda was opened in 1993 and I have been a volunteer since 2004. At first there were many gay men among the founders. Then years later it was joined by lesbians and trans as well. The idea was to open an association but also a cultural center, in other words to provide a space where the gay community could meet. We changed a couple of sites and now we are in this office who is also a cultural center, library, video library. In 2006 we asked the legal status and we got it.
* But repression against you is not over?
In these years several criminal cases have been opened against us. One of the most incredible case was about words: the Court argued that gay, lesbian and so were not Turkish but English words and therefore could not be used. Then they started saying that we fostered prostitution. The prosecutor demanded the closure of the association because we are a threat to traditional family values.
* Let's go back to the center's activities.
We have a small library, a video store, we organize theme nights, but we do not want this to become a kind of ghetto for gay, so we work very well outside the headquarters of Lambda. For this we organize various activities, events on the streets. And then we have succeeded, not without tremendous effort, in organizing a Pride here in Istanbul. We have also have a help line, a service that is proving very successful in that it is used a lot and this has confirmed just how lonely are homosexuals in this country. We collect complaints from across the country. Sometimes homosexual call and sometimes families and sometime young people who want to know how to live their sexuality, how to speak about it, how to 'outing'. Because the big problem here is coming out. The other big issue for men is the military service. Homosexuality is seen as a disease by the army. Most men undergo a very humiliating treatment. They are asked for proof of their homosexuality. That means bringing the video or photos to show your homosexuality.
* But there is also violence in the streets and sometimes even family. Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of violence on the road. I confess that sometimes I'm afraid to go home alone, you quickly realize that people look at you strange. But above all there are organized gang of guys that hit the gay or trans. Here, the trans is today perhaps the most affected by violence, because you are immediately associate with a prostitute. Even the police use a lot of violence, we collect a lot of complaints against the police, but it goes without saying that this violence goes unpunished.
* What is the atmosphere at the university?
It depends a lot on the university. I studied here in Istanbul. I have never hidden my sexuality. I lived openly and have been fortunate in my university, I found people ready to listen, if not accept. Of course I realize that people look at me strange, but for example my teachers were very open. There is however very heavy discrimination in the workplace. You can be fired if you are gay or lesbian. And, again, if you cross very often do not even give you the job.
* Making 'outing' is never easy. For you how it was?
Meanwhile, it must be said that there is a huge difference between what happens in big cities and what happens in small towns. Think of a village or a village in Anatolia, "outing" is much more difficult. That said, "outing" is never easy, even if your family is open. And here I make a personal example. My family was always very open and supportive, always told me to live quietly with my sexuality, but they also ask me not to do too much ... advertising. However, there is the fear that someone in the family, a family member knows, we'll see. My parents are supportive, but I continue to say that my sexuality is a private matter.
ANF spoke to Ruzgar, Lambda (Turkish LGBT main organization) member and one of the organizers of this year Pride Week.
* Let's start from the association. When it was born, what do you do?
Lambda was opened in 1993 and I have been a volunteer since 2004. At first there were many gay men among the founders. Then years later it was joined by lesbians and trans as well. The idea was to open an association but also a cultural center, in other words to provide a space where the gay community could meet. We changed a couple of sites and now we are in this office who is also a cultural center, library, video library. In 2006 we asked the legal status and we got it.
* But repression against you is not over?
In these years several criminal cases have been opened against us. One of the most incredible case was about words: the Court argued that gay, lesbian and so were not Turkish but English words and therefore could not be used. Then they started saying that we fostered prostitution. The prosecutor demanded the closure of the association because we are a threat to traditional family values.
* Let's go back to the center's activities.
We have a small library, a video store, we organize theme nights, but we do not want this to become a kind of ghetto for gay, so we work very well outside the headquarters of Lambda. For this we organize various activities, events on the streets. And then we have succeeded, not without tremendous effort, in organizing a Pride here in Istanbul. We have also have a help line, a service that is proving very successful in that it is used a lot and this has confirmed just how lonely are homosexuals in this country. We collect complaints from across the country. Sometimes homosexual call and sometimes families and sometime young people who want to know how to live their sexuality, how to speak about it, how to 'outing'. Because the big problem here is coming out. The other big issue for men is the military service. Homosexuality is seen as a disease by the army. Most men undergo a very humiliating treatment. They are asked for proof of their homosexuality. That means bringing the video or photos to show your homosexuality.
* But there is also violence in the streets and sometimes even family. Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of violence on the road. I confess that sometimes I'm afraid to go home alone, you quickly realize that people look at you strange. But above all there are organized gang of guys that hit the gay or trans. Here, the trans is today perhaps the most affected by violence, because you are immediately associate with a prostitute. Even the police use a lot of violence, we collect a lot of complaints against the police, but it goes without saying that this violence goes unpunished.
* What is the atmosphere at the university?
It depends a lot on the university. I studied here in Istanbul. I have never hidden my sexuality. I lived openly and have been fortunate in my university, I found people ready to listen, if not accept. Of course I realize that people look at me strange, but for example my teachers were very open. There is however very heavy discrimination in the workplace. You can be fired if you are gay or lesbian. And, again, if you cross very often do not even give you the job.
* Making 'outing' is never easy. For you how it was?
Meanwhile, it must be said that there is a huge difference between what happens in big cities and what happens in small towns. Think of a village or a village in Anatolia, "outing" is much more difficult. That said, "outing" is never easy, even if your family is open. And here I make a personal example. My family was always very open and supportive, always told me to live quietly with my sexuality, but they also ask me not to do too much ... advertising. However, there is the fear that someone in the family, a family member knows, we'll see. My parents are supportive, but I continue to say that my sexuality is a private matter.
