Mining engineer candidates discussed LGBTI+ rights

20/10/2023 | Writer: Selma Koçak

Umut Güner met with mining engineering candidates and spoke about the difficulties faced by LGBTI+ people in the workplace during the session on gender inequality and LGBTI+ rights.

Umur Güner, from Kaos GL, spoke about the LGBTI+ solidarity after the Tekel workers’ resistance movement[1] and the Soma massacre[2] at the 8th Student Conference of the Chamber of Mining Engineers of Turkey.

Chamber of Mining Engineers of Turkey, affiliated to Union of Chambers Of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), held its 8th Student Conference in Ankara, on October 14-15. Over the course of two days, mining engineering students discussed issues such as the environment, gender equality and the constitution, as well as problems they face in their profession.

Umut Güner, from Kaos GL, was a speaker on the second day of the assembly. Güner met with mining engineering candidates and spoke about the difficulties faced by LGBTI+ people in the workplace during the session on gender inequality and LGBTI+ rights. 

Soma, Tekel and Pride

Güner recalled that following the Soma Mine Massacre in 2014, Kaos GL dedicated the March Against Homophobia to Soma and marched with a banner saying “Soma: We know the killers”, and spoke about the British film Pride, which shows solidarity between miners and homosexuals:

“The question from whom we ask for solidarity is in itself a political stance. For example, during the Tekel resistance, Pink Life went to the tents and showed solidarity with the workers. After this solidarity, there were workers who said: 'Even the transvestites are standing in solidarity with us, where are you?’ In terms of deciphering society’s relationship with LGBTI+ people, the British experience in the 1980s and the Turkish experience in the 2010s are very similar.”

After the presentation, Güner answered questions from the mining engineering students.

Tags: human rights