Appeals Court Confused about Sexual Orientation

The 7th Judicial Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals has overturned the ruling of Istanbul’s 3rd Civil Court of First Instance, which had decided to close down the Lambdaistanbul Association for a “violation of general morals”.

"No choice in sexual orientation or identity"

The appeal court’s decision was taken on 25 November 2008, but is still to be communicated to the lawyers of the association. In a six-page decree the court ruled that “sexual identity and orientation are facts that people do not choose of free will, but that stem from birth or upbringing and a person has no control over.”

"Encouraging" homosexuality and transgender identities could lead to closure

The Supreme Court of Appeals referred to Article 20 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 22 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9 of the European Human Rights Convention, Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution, Article 56 of the Turkish Civil Law and Article 3 of the Association Law, coming to the following conclusion:

“Should the association go against its own regulations in future by carrying out activities to encourage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transsexual orientations and to make them more common, Articles 30 and 31 of the Association Law would apply and an application for the dissolution of the association could be made.”

"Court considers us a threat"

Lambdaistanbul member Haziran Düzkan and lawyer Basri Akyüz, member of the Istanbul Bar association, released a press statement at the Taxim Hill Hotel in Istanbul. They denounced the decree as paradoxical and announced that they would try to get rid of this contradiction in a retrial at the Istanbul 3rd Civil Court of First Instance.

Düzkan said, “It is saddening that the Supreme Court of Appeals still considers those people a threat who are discriminated against, othered and ignored because of their sexual orientation and sexual identity, and who try to become visible through organising and seeking justice.”

Lawyer Akyüz announced that the association would have won a trial at the European Court of Human Rights if Turkey had insisted on its closure.

History of the association

Lambdaistanbul has been active since 1993 and became an association on 18 May 2006. The Istanbul Governor’s Office had called for the closure of the association, arguing that the association regulations were legal and moral violations. When the prosecution rejected the demand for a closure trial in the name of freedom of organisation, the Governor’s Office appealed.

On 29 May 2008, the Beyoğlu Court ignored an expert’s report and dissolved the association on the grounds that it was inconsistent with general morals and Turkish family values. (EÖ/AG)