Meeting Against Homophobia in Northeastern City of Kars

Northeastern city of Kars hosted an event within the scope of Local Meetings Against Homophobia. The meeting, held on 13 March at Eğitim-Sen’s (Education and Science Workers’ Union) Kars branch, was attended by 30 people from various backgrounds, including civil servants, LGBT, People’s Democratic Congress (HDK) Kars Council, members of Caucasian Student’s Union and students.

 

Evren E. Çakmak from Kaos GL took on the job of presenting the meeting. Çakmak, first, indicated why Kaos GL was organized, what kind of a process it’s went through ever since its establishment and why being organized matters. Evren E. Çakmak stated "Homophobia goes hand in hand with militarism, fascism and capitalism. Hate speech affects everyone one way or the other. It attacks people and even those which are not human."

 

Declaring that hate and all its kinds remain as shackles confining our ankles for as long as we live, Çakmak said "LGBT individuals are usually devoid of the right to education, the right to health and the right to housing simply because of such hate speeches."

 

Emphasizing 68 individuals fell victim to hate crimes in 2012, Çakmak stated "These are merely the ones that we could see. There are many more anti-LGBT hate crimes. In every 48 hours another woman is killed. We don’t know how many of these victims are lesbian or bisexual."

 

After Evren E. Çakmak’s speech, there was a Q&A session. Here are some of the questions addressed to Çakmak:

 

-          What does LGBT mean? How can we help these individuals?

-          What does the flag behind you mean? (Mentioning the rainbow flag)

-          Have LGBT individuals and organizations engaged in opposition activities regarding the social problems such as Roboski?

-          What kinds of difficulties LGBT face in Turkey, home to diverse marginal identities?

 

Following the Q&A session, we shared our experiences. Upon the demand by some of the participants, contact information was collected so as to render participation to the future activities against homophobia and transphobia possible.

 

* International Meeting Against Homophobia is financed by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.