LGBTI+ Children Do Exist: ‘Tell Them They are Not Alone’

"Being alone in a giant world...
It is how LGBTI+ children feel!
Tell them that they are not alone..."

* Image: Aslı Alpar

Click to read the article in Turkish

"I hid myself a lot when I was a child," tweets one. "First, my family beat me, then my friends," adds another. The children who do not fit into the heterosexist and two-gender world...

LGBTI+ community and rights defenders in Turkey staged a protest on social media on the occasion of April 23 Children's Day. 

Declaring that "LGBTI Children Do Exist" under the hashtag #LGBTİÇocuklarVardır, several LGBTI+s shared their experiences of discrimination and hate speech that they faced during their childhood.

In a country where Ceylan Önkol, Uğur Kaymaz and Berkin Elvan, killed by soldier/police bullets, are not seen, they expressed their feelings, trying to make themselves visible and their voices heard.

What we recently see in Turkey is that when men cannot direct their rage and violence to women, they turn to children. Like nine-year-old Ceylan, who was battered and killed by his father in Antep province...

Children celebrated April 23 Children's Day in a country where they are killed, ignored and subjected to violence just because they reveal their gender identity. In this land where children are not protected, that song was sung again, the one that goes, "Adults, be proud; children, be happy..."

In fact, just as LGBTI+s expressed it quite clearly, there is nothing to be proud of or to be happy about. Because in this country where children are already not protected, LGBTI+ children are all the more vulnerable and fragile. And, what is worse, only a very few of us are aware of it.

'Tell them that they are not alone'

Some messages shared by LGBTI+s under the hashtag of "LGBTI Children Do Exist" were as follows:

"I was called a faggot for years. I was the leading actor of secret talks for years. Homosexual children do exist, what you call an orientation does not change in an instant. It is neither a shame nor a deficiency. I beg you, please someone understand it now..."

"Those who say that a child has no gender or sexual orientation taught you how to become a heterosexual man for years. I am really sorry for each and every moment when you were embarrassed and humiliated because you were not like how they wanted you to be. You are so strong..."

"If I could go back in time, I would tell that child only this: 'It is not gonna be easy, but you will overcome everything because you are very strong. You are neither wrong nor alone. Keep your head always up, will you?"

"Tell them that they are not alone..."

"For years, with that little body of mine, I was subjected to disgusting hate crimes. At primary and secondary school, I was called a 'faggot, girl semih, sally, fag' and, in fact, a lot more than that. I was not alone, I did not give up, I came out to my family and got their support."

"When I was little, I was always an object of ridicule because I did not play football with the boys, but played volleyball and skipped rope with the girls. They have got married and had kids now, I hope that they will not have the same fate as mine."

"Do you think that LGBTI+s come from the space? We are the children, mothers, fathers of someone, too. We are a part of this society, we are this society. I was a trans when I was a child and I still am. You can ignore it all you like, but you cannot change the reality of mine or other children."

"I was like a girl for you when I was just 6 years old. I was a fag, a faggot. It was what you saw and said. Before I could come to know myself, you came to know me. Now, you say that I do not exist. You are hypocrites."

"You think that all children are born heteresexual/non-trans, you think that a magic wand touches some children when they turn 18 and they become LGBTI+s all of a sudden. Because of these presumptions of yours, LGBTI+ children are subjected to bullying."

"My childhood... My dear childhood that passed with sadness, cries, shame, pressure and bullying, hate and discrimination, denial and rejection... Bullies are not permanent, they leave. Depression is not permanent, either; it leaves, too. That little child is now a hopeful, excited rights defender."

"I was not yet subjected to bullying in that picture. When I started school, hardships started for me as well. I was verbally harassed by my peers and my elders for years. Don't be cruel by not knowing or pretending to not know what we went through. Just shut up now." (EMK/SD)