13/12/2023 | Writer: Yıldız Tar
Following the İstanbul and Mersin branches of Human Rights Association, LGBTI+ Rights Commission was also set up in Ankara. The commission will support LGBTI+s who were subjected to violence and submit legislative proposals regarding LGBTI+s to political parties.
Human Rights Association (IHD) Ankara Branch LGBTI+ Commission was set up. The Commission was announced during Human Rights Week, following a decision by the IHD General Assembly.
IHD Ankara Branch members and LGBTI+ right defenders attended the press conference. IHD Ankara Branch Co-Chair Aslı Saraç announced the establishment of the commission as follows:
“Only the Istanbul and Mersin branches of the Human Rights Association, which has played an important role in the struggle for human rights since its foundation, have LGBTI+ commissions. We are aware of this shortcoming in this well-established human rights organization in Turkey and the world. As a result of our negotiations with the association, we, as LGBTI+ human rights defenders and LGBTI+ parents who crossed paths to establish a commission for LGBTI+ people in Ankara, have set up our commission. It is our declaration that we will be fighting for the establishment of LGBTI+ commissions in all branches of our association.”
Reminding that LGBTI+s are subjected to physical psychological violence just because of their existence Saraç said: “Those who are not killed simply because they exist are excluded from every part of that society, condemned to civilian death, targeted by hate crimes and isolated.”
The commission will support victims of violence
Saraç stated that the LGBTI+ Commission will defend equality and prohibition of discrimination against discriminatory laws and policies, and fight against homophobic, transphobic and bi-phobic violence, and listed the following activities of the Commission:
“*Monitoring cases of violence and providing support to victims of violence,
* To stand in solidarity with LGBTI+ organizations for the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in law and in practice and for the removal of obstacles to the realization of LGBTI+ rights,
* To carry out studies and monitoring activities for the recognition and development of the rights of LGBTI+ refugees and the prevention of violations in this area,
* Conduct studies and monitoring activities in order to eliminate violations of the rights of LGBTI+ prisoners,
*To ensure that the situation of LGBTI+ people is included in human rights reports and to draw attention to structural discrimination against LGBTI+ people, to work to raise awareness of the struggle for human rights as a whole, particularly in the human rights community,
* To communicate effectively with local, regional and international rights-based organizations to address rights violations faced by LGBTI+ people,
*We will provide organizational support for legislative efforts to ensure equality for LGBTI+ people before the law and to end discrimination by submitting proposals to the political parties with groups in the Turkish Grand National Assembly to identify discriminatory legal provisions and to implement legal amendments to eliminate them.”
“In workplaces, on the streets, in schools, on campuses, in shops, with nail polish and calloused hands...”
Saraç recalled that discriminatory ideology underlies the marginalization of LGBTI+ people at the end of his statement: “Discriminatory ideology is fed by nationalism, militarism, sexism, heterosexism, conservatism and authoritarianism.” Saraç continued as follows:
“In workplaces, on the streets, in schools, on campuses, in shops, with nail polish and calloused hands...IHD Ankara Branch LGBTI+ Commission will be in solidarity with LGBTI+ wherever, under whatever conditions, whoever there is. As LGBTI+ we exist in the struggle for human rights as in all areas of life. We are defenders of the rights of all people who are subject to discrimination and marginalization and whose rights are violated, including our own rights. People are human beings with their own rights, and LGBTI+ rights are human rights.”
LGBTI+ Rights Commissions at IHD
The association’s first LGBTI+ rights commission was set up at the İstanbul Branch on January 30. Speaking at the panel “Problems of LGBTI+ Prisoners in Prisons and the Right to Health” organized by the IHD Istanbul LGBTI+ Rights Commission as a part of Human Rights Week between December 10-17 this year, IHD Co-President Eren Keskin mentioned that LGBTI+ commissions should be set up in all branches:
“The LGBTI+ Commission, which should exist in all our branches, only exists in our Istanbul branch. But heterosexism is the same as racism. For instance, trans women are fined according to the Misdemeanor Law, and phrases like ‘polluting the environment, damaging the environment’ are written as reasons for these fines. This is clearly racist. The language of the state is so exclusionary and hateful that it spreads throughout society. That is why we say that violence is political. As a matter of fact, we have been witnessing the organization of hatred very closely recently.”
Second commission of the association was set up in Mersin last month. IHD Mersin Branch announced the establishment of the LGBTI+ Rights Commission by saying: “All forms of hatred supported by the state ideology are spreading rapidly, in the family, school, university, cafes, cinema, park, street, in brief, in all spheres of life. We don’t want the ideology of hate in our city.”
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights
