Read on Twitter
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">https://twitter.com/spodlgbti...
On April 23, Turkey& #39;s Children& #39;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& #39; LGBTI+ Commissions, as well as the newly established Istanbul Bar Association LGBTI+ Rights Group issued statements condemning Erbas& #39; 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& #39;s statement that Erbas& #39; "voice belongs to ages ago", the Minister tweeted this morning that "that voice is the voice of Islam".
This isn& #39;t the first time that LGBTI+s are the target during a crisis- this is all too familiar. What& #39;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& #39;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& #39;t be going anywhere, kudurun
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Rainbow" aria-label="Emoji: Rainbow">
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& #39; NOISE was off" #englishasasecondlanguage
