Pro-Government Daily Yeni Akit Not Prosecuted for Calling LGBTI+s ‘Dishonorable Faggots’

*LGBTI+ rights are human rights (Photo: Kaos GL)

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Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in İstanbul has decided not to prosecute pro-government daily Yeni Akit over a news report it called LGBTI+s "dishonorable faggots."

In its issue dated September 22, 2019, the Yeni Akit published a report on the LGBTİ+ pride march in İzmir, titled, "They are gathering in İzmir! Preparing the new era with the grandchildren of the people of Lot," referring to a gay community mentioned in the Quran.

The article contained discriminatory expressions such as "naughty LGBTI+s", "the walk of dishonorable faggots", "the perverted mob." It also called the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL) "the voice of perverts."

The Young LGBTİ+ Association filed a criminal complaint against the newspaper, alleging that it committed the offense of "openly degrading a section of the people based on differences of class, religion, sect, gender, region."

The Yeni Akit said in its defense statement that what was criticized in the article was not gender differences but efforts of spreading "different sexual orientations" in the society.

The Prosecutor's Office considered the article "criticism" and decided not to prosecute the Yeni Akit. (EMK/VK)