Two Global Issues: Homophobia and Hatred!

  

Yeşil Gazete (Green Newspaper) interviewed Ali Erol about David Kato Vision and Voice Award and LGBT movement in Turkey.

 

David Kato was a Ugandan human rights activist. While he was struggling against the human rights violations with his organization, he became a target for government. Media published the pictures of a group of gays and lesbians, including the picture of Kato. Pictures were titled “Hang Them!”. David Kato was working for his cause under such drastic political atmosphere. He was receiving death threats, spent some time in prison and he was under oppression by the Government. He was killed on 26 January 2011 in his home at Kampala by being beaten to death. The government knew his life was under danger but kept silent on the issue. Kato not only became a symbol for LGBT rights but also an example of standing against homophobia and at the same time fighting determinately against religious and nationalist hatred.

 

The General Manager of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) stated that “having the Award ceremony inside the Pan-Africa Parliament was a challenge for the whole African continent. The person who dared this challenge was David Kato, even though this meant the cost of his life.”

 

Expressions like “the most problematic country in the world” might imply that the homophobic violence is unique to that region, but it is not! Homophobia and hatred are global issues! We must see that homophobia and hatred are global ideologies that transcends the borders and not unique to any region or country. These ideologies are discriminatory as they intervene into our lives and prevent us from expressing ourselves as LGBTs.

 

“Traditional values” and their political counterparts and similar excuses, which are hypothetically loved by conservatives, brought harm to those who do not conform to heterosexual norms. Today, this problem made the world a place where, people are not only attempting to deprive LGBTs of their rights, but also debate whether to intervene into the lives of them. We should not forget this perspective, but yes, the political discussions in Uganda and many other regions in Africa are horrifying. The bill that is on the political agenda today in Uganda anticipates executions for LGBTs. The homophobia inherited from the colonial past is now institutionalized. Moreover American Evangelists also planted seeds of hatred. All these culminated today into a “Kill the homosexuals!” atmosphere. In the short term such religious and political hypocrisy will affect the lives of the most marginalized groups which are seen as most dispensable ones. Despite all these, thanks to the courage of David Kato’s organization “Sexual Minorities Uganda” (SMUG) and his supportive family and friends, this homophobic wave of hatred will be dispersed. 

 

When we started to move in our way in early 90’s, we told LGBTs who live in Turkey that “There is no need for a fear of belatedness; we can build our local and grassroots movement ourselves.” We followed this path and at the same time tried to reach every opposition group and tried to transform them. We did it both to show solidarity and to point out that even the different forms of discriminations overlap at some common roots. We tried to build horizontal networks that will transgress our boundaries. As part of this process LGBT communities of countries from the Balkans, Middle East and Caucasus come together in “Regional Network Meetings Against Homophobia” to emancipate together for three years now. In the same vein, we are trying to improve the “International Feminist Forum” against sexism and homophobia.

 

Even when Kaos GL magazine was just a photocopy publication, we were trying to follow the struggles against heterosexism in different parts of the world, from Zimbabwe to Russia, from China to the Americas. Today the possibilities of and means for circulation of practices against heterosexism around the world increased a lot. Especially due to the “International Meeting Against Homophobia” which was first organized in 2006, we are able to organize new networks that can contribute to the movement both in practice and in theory.

 

Before everything else, this means to salute the LGBT movement in Turkey and signifies the official solidarity of global movement. Despite the fact that the award is given to individuals, I wish to note that it is an achievement of struggle and politics developed by LGBT community, of which Kaos GL constitutes a part.

 

On the global level, despite the re-ascend of conservative agenda based on “traditional values”, the fact that IPPF’s celebrated of sexual orientation as a sexual right and hosting the David Kato Vision and Voice Award must also be appreciated.

  

The uniqueness of Kaos GL was its direct grassroots organization. We started our journey with the motto: “The liberation of homosexuals will also free heterosexuals.” By saying that we emphasized the diversity in LGBT community and also tried to show the importance of critical self-reflection of heterosexuals. We never undermined the importance of struggle for rights. However we also never forget that those rights require changes in relations, culture and minds to be meaningful and we fight for it with determination and courage. We have strived for development of movement as a whole, so we supported different local initiatives and their autonomy. We also promoted other organizations as requirements of the movement and signs of its richness.

 

We also contributed to the development and transformation of especially the feminist and human rights movements, while we were struggling to grow LGBT movement. We favored a positive and “insider” critical stand that aims for anti-heterosexist transformation of opposition, media and academy. Therefore it would be appropriate to say about LGBT movement in Turkey that, although it achieved not much in terms of legal rights, it managed to establish itself and transcend itself by its social transformative power.

 

It must be a consensus that the demand of LGBT movement of “Constitutional equality” was influential. In 2012 it become evident that any constitution today that does not recognize LGBT reality cannot be considered as a “new”, “democratic” or “emancipatory” constitution. Moreover, thanks to this constitutional struggle, LGBT movement showed that the rights demanded against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was  a part of human rights to civil society and the government.

 

Unfortunately 2012 was another year that was drastically bad in terms of homophobic and transphobic violence. In Uganda, governments tried to pass laws that declare execution as a punishment for being LGBTs and punish those who wish to rent a house. In Turkey the government, by being silent about the violence and denying protecting the victims, makes LGBTs more vulnerable. What is even more disturbing than the homophobic and transphobic hate crimes that are committed throughout the year is that the last banishing and lynching events in Istanbul’s Avcılar district and the subsequent silence of government showed that government does not care about LGBTs, doesn’t consider them as citizens or even think that they must be protected against attacks. We are now looking forward to see the acceptance of “The Hate Crime Law” that is proposed by oppositional party Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which has Kurdish origins. We will see together how this law will do in the coming year together.

 

As the visibility of LGBTs increase, also fields of their confrontation increase. At the same time, this relation causes their political demands for solution of these conflicts to step up. Therefore it is natural that there will always be subjects that will defend these demands in every sphere, from the smallest unit up to the Turkish National Assembly (TBMM). Our insistence on an independent LGBT movement is based on our aim of changing politics as a whole and not to be tied up to a certain party. It is probable that as the development of LGBT movement and transformation of political organizations increase the political landscape and organizations will be flourished.

 

LGBT movement had started to work on this issue even before re-writing of Constitution was on the agenda of Turkey! The common demand we have been voicing was “Constructional equality”.  The way to recognize it is to put the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” after the “sex” under the clause that prohibits discrimination. Thanks to our perennial efforts, social oppositional groups who demand a “new, democratic and emancipatory” constitution agreed on it. These groups include parties like CHP and BDP, unions like DISK a worker’s union and KESK a public employee’s union and especially the feminist organizations. The debates that arose in TBMM in the process of writing a new constitution get tangled up on the issue of accepting or refuting to give these rights that LGBTs demand.

 

Although it may seem that the demand of LGBT movement for “Constitutional equality” might seem new, it is actually an old one. We know that as long as you are an LGBT that resists heterosexism, a Kurd who resists to enforcement of one language, an Alevi who resists enforcement of one religion, a woman who resists to the male domination, a worker who resists exploitation, a minority in face of a majority and/or a poor, a sick, a disabled person, you will never be considered to be part of the “Everyone”! That is why LGBT movement will not give up its struggle for recognition and inclusion of the reality of variety of “sexual orientations and gender identities” in every aspect of life. (Yeşil Gazete / M. Can Tonbil)

 

Translation: Sercan Kıyak