An awful wave of hate speech and phobia is ongoing in Turkey against LGBTI+s. It all started with children drawing rainbows and hanging them to their windows during lockdown, an activity designed by school teachers for morale. They were then accused of LGBTI+ propaganda.

In response, many LGBTI+s drew rainbows of their own: "There is no place for hatred in the rainbow!" https://twitter.com/spodlgbti/status/1245038446978228225

On April 23, Turkey's Children's Day, the hashtag "LGBTI children exist" went viral, with many users tweeting photos of themselves as a child. Despite online abuse and harassment, it was an unprecedented level of visibility of LGBTI+ children in Turkey.

The very next day, during Friday prayers, President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbas targeted LGBTI+s, people living with HIV, and unmarried partners, claiming they "bring disease and corrupt the generation" (Not his first time spreading hatred against LGBTI+s, I must add)

LGBTI+ and HIV organizations immediately responded, condemning hate speech and pointing to the fact that Erbas is a state employee who is bound with human rights obligations of Turkey arising from international law.

Not just them- Izmir, Ankara, Diyarbakir Bar Associations' LGBTI+ Commissions, as well as the newly established Istanbul Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Group issued statements condemning Erbas' discriminatory remarks.

This then fueled into backlash in support of Erbas, with hashtags being opened in his name, spreading hatred against LGBTI+s while dragging the bar associations with them. Even the Minister of Justice is involved:

In response to the Ankara Bar Association's statement that Erbas' "voice belongs to ages ago", the Minister tweeted this morning that "that voice is the voice of Islam".

This isn't the first time that LGBTI+s are the target during a crisis- this is all too familiar. What's different this time I think is the rapid and strong involvement of bar associations- which says a lot about the Istanbul Bar Association in particular.

The LGBTI+ movement in Turkey has been struggling w discrimination spread by these institutions for years. It's refreshing and motivating to see reactions by others as well. I truly hope that a principled stand can continue among bar associations when it comes to LGBTI+ rights.

I forgot the funniest part! The phobes tweet stuff like "is this the Ankara Bar or the Amsterdam Bar?" and they even started a hashtag saying "go to The Netherlands". I found it hilarious that their vision of LGBTI+ is limited to this. Also we won't be going anywhere, kudurun

Also there are so many errors in this thread omg I think I forgot English during quarantine. The other day I asked someone on Zoom if their "computers' NOISE was off" #englishasasecondlanguage