12/12/2023 | Writer: Selma Koçak
Empowerment Conference of May 17 Association brought together lawyers, social workers and psychologists from 16 provinces. Here is the course of the two-day conference…

Empowerment Conference of May 17 Association brought together lawyers, social workers and psychologists from 16 provinces. Experts from Ankara, İzmir, İstanbul, Bursa, Adıyaman, Mersin, Osmaniye, Eskişehir, Antalya, Mardin, Diyarbakır, Hatay, Mersin, Adana, Urfa and Antep gathered in order to strengthen LGBTI+ rights and LGBTI+ people on December 9-10. The conference was the closing event of the association’s empowerment program 2023.
In the first session of the conference, “Earthquakes and Lubunyas (queers)” was discussed. The session was moderated by Nedime Erdoğan from Ankara Rainbow Families Association (GALADER). The speakers were Umut Güner, coordinator of Kaos GL, Ceren Gürocak from Youth Approaches to Health Association (SGYD) and Didem Kalafat, disaster relief worker.
“The earthquake was a reminder not only of the problems of shelter and food, but also of the lack of urban rights”
During the session, Umut Güner, General Coordinator of Kaos GL, also shared his experiences with the Ankara Lubunya Earthquake Solidarity, which was established as an LGBTI+ association in Ankara after the earthquake. Güner spoke as follows:
“After the earthquake, 5 LGBTI+ organizations in Ankara came together. The requests we received in the first three days were from people who did not have access to safe places. People often did not have access to food. For example, when LGBTI+ refugees asked for food, they were refused by those distributing it, and when they tried to stay in the hotels provided, they were not allowed. Many lubunyas did not know how to access aid before the earthquake, and they faced this problem after the earthquake. The earthquake was a reminder not only of the problems of shelter and food, but also of the lack of urban rights. In Ankara, May 17 Association and Pink Life have been providing psychological support. We also opened three houses for lubunyas who were victims of the earthquake. Unfortunately, in these houses we experienced all the risks we had foreseen in our risk analyses.. We had to set different rules to prevent them.”
“Families can and must change”
In the session “Can Families Change?” moderated by Kaos GL General Coordinator Umut Güner, Nedime Erdoğan and Atilla Dirim from GALADER and Gülçin Con Wright, family sociologist from TED University, spoke.
Wright reminded that there were more than one kind of family structure and continued as follows:
“Are families changing? They are already changing. Society is already changing. There is nothing unchangeable. However change is very slow at the moment and it may take hundreds of years for society to change. So the changes that are happening now may not be what we want at the moment. Changes in other areas of society may not be immediately reflected in the family. As a glass half full person, I can give examples of many different family structures. Families can and must change. We can only discuss the speed of it.”
Within the scope of the session, in which some questions such as “Can we free ourselves from the meanings, roles and responsibilities placed on families and create a free family? How does being a lubunya parent change us?” were tried to be answered, Nedime Erdoğan and Atilla Dirim also shared their experiences with their LGBTI+ children.
“Digital violence against LGBTI+s is a reflection of the government’s policy”
The last session of the first day discussed “Hate speech and the impact of digital violence on LGBTI+ people.” In the session, Berfu Şeker from Women’s Human Rights Association explained the discursive background of anti-gender movement in the world, KaosGL.org editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar explained the relationship between digital violence and political violence, and psychologist Alp Kemaloğlu from May 17 Association explained how all this hate and violence affects LGBTI+ people.
Talking on the digital violence research titled “All of a Sudden” of Kaos GL, Tar said the following:
“Online hate campaigns isolate LGBTI+ people. The political power that fuels hate campaigns is an obstacle for survivors to file formal complaints. When the perpetrator is linked to the government, formal complaint mechanisms become useless. It is a striking finding that respondents often do not resort to any mechanism when they are subjected to digital violence; however, when it comes to censorship, they seek their rights by voicing their objections on social media platforms. The high rate and nature of digital violence can be interpreted as a reflection of government policy. The discourses of the authorities turn into public policies that discriminate against LGBTI+ people. During the interviews and the survey, participants repeatedly mentioned pro-government media organizations as perpetrators. This may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the current situation of LGBTI+ rights in Turkey. However, since 2015, the government has taken a clear stance on LGBTI+ rights in Turkey: Bans on LGBTI+ events, police attacks on Pride marches, and a smear campaign against the community. The high rate of digital violence, and the scale of this violence, can be seen as a reflection of government policy.”
Transition process in Turkey
The second day began with a session on the transition process. The session, which was moderated by lawyer Hatice Demir, heard from lawyer Evrim Demirtaş of Pink Life Association, psychologist Can Eren and Utku Kutbay of Muamma LGBTI+ Association.
The most impoverished of all: Sex workers, students and refugees
The last session of the conference discussed poverty and its different layers. In the session moderated by KaosGL.org editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar, social worker Elif Topçu from Red Umbrella Association spoke about sex workers and poverty, lawyer Duygu Çildoğan from UniKuir spoke about students and poverty, lawyer Hayriye Kara, coordinator of Kaos GL's Refugee Rights Program, and Ameda Karakuzu from HEVİ LGBTI+ Association spoke about refugees and poverty.
After the sessions, experts from the May 17 Association’s Psychosocial and Legal Support Program presented the Association’s work. Lawyer Kardelen Yılmaz, psychologists Alp Kemaloğlu and Seda Günel and social worker Havva Kafes presented the Association’s consultation services and the system they work with.
Tags: human rights, women, media, education, family, health