The History Begins

Kaos GL is an organization advocating for the human rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) individuals in Turkey. Celebrating September 1994 as the official founding date of the publication of Kaos GL Magazine’s first issue, the organization has been working against militarism, nationalism, homophobia, transphobia and sexism from the beginning of its establishment.

The history of Kaos GL begins in 1993 with house gatherings and in 1994 with black & white photocopied “underground” magazines which were distributed in the streets of various places in Turkey. Upon a warning by the officials, the magazine was registered in 1999. The group made its first public appearance on May 1 Labor Day in 2001; numerous TV channels showed the group for the first time. The state TV TRT also showed but without naming it.  

In 2006, July-August edition of Kaos GL Magazine was confiscated on the same day it was printed by the Ankara Justice Court due to the court deeming its content to be “pornographic” and breaching “general morality”. Kaos GL appealed the decision to the Supreme Court; however, the Supreme Court approved the lower court’s decision that this edition is sold to those over 18, adding “the decision is lawful and complies with the procedural proceedings”.

The former editor-in-chief of the magazine, Umut Güner, was being accused of publishing pornographic contents based on Turkish Penal Code, Article 226. He faced up to three years of jail sentence. He had been acquitted as the magazine “was not on sale yet”. Kaos GL’s court case is still continuing at the European Court of Human Rights with the fight that the magazine is not pornographic and its sale should be done regardless of readers’ ages.  

Ankara’s deputy governor in 2005 ordered the closure of the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Researches and Solidarity Association, established on July 15, calling it “immoral”. The Ankara Governor’s Office said the association’s title and purposes violated the Turkish Civil Code, which states that “associations against law and morality cannot be established”. Ankara prosecutor Kürşat Kayral stated in his ruling that the American Psychiatric Association did not rate homosexuality as a disorder and the words "gay" and "lesbian" were widely used in daily life and scientific research. The association remained open.

Kaos GL’s aim is to support (LGBT) individuals in embracing libertarian values, realizing their own existence, and in cultivating themselves in order to contribute to the development of social peace and welfare. Kaos GL conducts cultural, educational, academic and artistic activities so that LGBT individuals may embrace freedom, justice and peace as their fundamental values.

The main work fields of the organization include the annual International Meeting Against Homophobia in dedication to IDAHO (the day WHO took homosexuality out of its “treatable mental illness list”); monitoring discrimination in the workplace, education, health, housing and law; reporting hate murders, crimes and speeches; giving legal support; LGBT refugees program.

The Association takes active role in the discussions for the new Constitution which does not recognize LGBT reality in its 10th Article which defines equality among citizens; The Anti-Discrimination Bill which no longer protects LGBTs after the Ministry of Interior removed the term “sexual identity” from its draft; the Foreginers and International Protection Bill which also no longer includes “sexual orientation” after its removal by the Ministry.