Turkey Hosts Conference on Anti-Gay Attitudes

Turkey hosted a two-day meeting on the issue of homophobia this week, with representatives from several nations addressing the problem of anti-gay attitudes in society and in law, both in Turkey and elsewhere around the globe.

The Turkish Daily News reported on the meeting, which began May 17 and May 18. The meeting began with a 20-minute documentary about the plight of gays in Turkey, in which homosexual Turks talking about anti-gay prejudice, discrimination and violence in Turkish law and culture.

One point of discussion was the lack, on the part of the U.N., of a universal charter that would comprehensively lay out the rights of gays and lesbians internationally. Zehra Kabasakal spoke to this topic, saying, "We must recognize the diversity in order to achieve equality for human dignity and we must ensure genuine equality."

Kabasakal, whose specialty is in the fields of women's rights and political science, bemoaned the lack of any concrete statement regarding gays and lesbians in any of the U.N.'s documents.

Kabasakal cited the scanty patchwork of international initiatives that address the needs of gays and lesbians worldwide, specifically the World Health Organization's 1990 removal of homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses and the 2006 adoption of the so-called "Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," a set of recommendations and guidelines that address international standards of human rights for gays, lesbians, and transgendered people.

Guest speakers also included B?rje Vestlund, one of seven gay members of the Sweden's 349-member Parliament, and Anette Trettebergstuen, one of three LGBT members of the Norwegian Parliament. Accoding to the Turkish Daily report, Vestlund gave voice to the hope that the Turkish Parliament might also one day include openly gay members, while Trettebergstuen told attendees that Norway's "gender mutual marriage act" would come into effect in 2009.

The Turkish GLBT group Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Organization also had a presence at the meeting. In October 2005, Kaos won a court case brought against them by the deputy governor of Ankara, who sought to shut the group down. At this week's meeting, according to the Turkish Daily News, KAOS member K?rsad Kahramanoglu spoke about Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union and the effect that would have on Turkey's domestic policies toward gays. Kahramanoglu also encouraged EU member nations to adopt officially the Yogyakarta Principles.

The text of the Yogyakarta Principles, along with other information, is available online at www.yogyakartaprinciples.org