‘Rainbow’ case against Boğaziçi students: Court lifts international travel bans

* Photo: Ozan Acıdere (from the 29th Pride March)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Taken into custody in front of the North Campus of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul on March 25 on the grounds that they were carrying a rainbow flag representing the LGBTI+ community, 12 students appeared before the judge for the second time today (June 28).

Charged with "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations", the students had their second hearing at the İstanbul 24th Heavy Penal Court. Rejecting the attorneys' requests for acquittal, the court board has lifted the international travel bans of the students.

The next hearing will be held on October 13.

'Undue' court case

Before the hearing at the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan, university solidarity groups met in front of the courthouse and made a statement.

Referring to the timing of the second hearing as it was held a day after the police violence against the 19th İstanbul Pride March, the statement read, "Today, only one day after the unlawful and inhumane attack on the 19th Pride March, we came together to support our friends in the undue court case where the existence of LGBTI+s is put on trial."

We salute the lubunyas [queers] who were taken into custody, subjected to the violence and torture of the police and whose right to life and safe spaces were disregarded on Satuday.

Noting that "LGBTI+ phobia has become manifest in every area of this structure of society and state," the students said:

"We see that this structure has no tolerance for our pride march. But, as we also showed yesterday, we are not afraid of these pressures and say: Get used to it and come to terms with it: We are here'."

Detention, torture, pressure...

Referring to the government, the solidarity groups stated, "We see that the government, trying to portray holding a rainbow flag as a crime, is trying to spread its LGBTI+ phobia in all layers of society."

The ones who are afraid of the inclusiveness of this flag, which is the symbol of several identities and orientations, are condemned to be a victim of their own exclusionary and isolating policies.

At this point, the students stressed that "in the face of the state's attempts to use these isolating policies in their resistance, the Boğaziçi Resistance has once again given the biggest answer, saying, 'LGBTI+ rights are human rights' and blaring out that they will not shy away from standing shoulder to should with the struggle for rights in its every demonstration."

"We declare that we do not recognize these cases that were filed to scare and intimidate our friends and that the law will be established thanks to social struggle," the students underlined further.

Referring to the detentions by torture during the 19th İstanbul Pride March on June 26, they said, "A day later, we are here again; we are outside, on the street; we stand before you. Our collective struggle that we have organized in the face of those preventing us from opening flags today will make a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people possible, as was the case during the 2014 Pride March. We have full confidence in this."

'LGBTI+s are not alone'

The statement of also addressed Prof. Melih Bulu, who was appointed as the rector of the university by President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"Since Mehmed Özkan's appointment to our school, we had known that trustee Melih Bulu would spread the state's LGBTI+phobic practices at our campus and would try to destroy our safe zones," they said, referring to the appointed vice rector Mehmed Özkan as well.

Recalling that one of the first things done by Bulu was to close the Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club (BÜLGBTİ+), the students said, "As for us, we have responded by saying all clubs are BÜLGBTİ+."

The more you have tried to take us apart from our resistance, the more we have been bound together and we have painted stairs, squares and streets in our colors. Both the Pride Week and our Boğaziçi resistance show that LGBTI+s are never alone.

Concluding their statement, the students reiterated, "We do not accept these attacks and trials targeting our existence."

"We are aware that the motive behind the ban on the flags that we carry on the streets is to ban and destroy our existence," they said, adding, "We cry out loud here again despite all these efforts of domination." (DŞ/SD)