The We Want Freedom Campaign has issued a call for solidarity ahead of the first hearing on November 12 in the trial of five trans women arrested as part of the operations dubbed “My Family Is Safe.”
The five trans women, who are held in Sincan Closed Prison, will appear before the Ankara 61st Criminal Court of First Instance at 10:30 am on Thursday, November 12.
The campaign said the indictment treats the women’s social media posts and gender identities as grounds for criminal charges and called on the public to observe the hearing.
In a statement titled “We have a court date: We will be at Ankara Courthouse on November 12 to demand freedom for imprisoned trans women,” the campaign said:
“As the We Want Freedom Campaign, we call on everyone to come to court on November 12 to stand in solidarity with imprisoned trans women, to say ‘Being trans is not a crime,’ and to reiterate our demand for freedom.”
“I am waiting for the day I will be free”
The campaign’s statement also included a message sent from Sincan Prison by Efsun Yakar, one of the trans women held in pretrial detention.
Yakar described prison conditions:
If you’re wondering what it’s like in here, even drinking water costs money. There is neither life nor freedom here. I feel like a lion locked in a cage. I am waiting for the day I will be free. May that day come for everyone unjustly imprisoned!
Joint call from LGBTI+ organizations
Ahead of the hearing, 14 LGBTI+ organizations also issued a joint statement calling on the public to gather in solidarity at Ankara Courthouse on November 12.
Noting that the five trans women face “obscenity” charges, the organizations said: “We will not leave our friends alone as they face charges of ‘obscenity,’ the old and new guise of hostility toward LGBTI+ people. We will once again say ‘We Want Freedom’ at Ankara Courthouse.”
The statement said LGBTI+ activists, members of associations’ executive and supervisory boards, and trans women had been subjected to ill-treatment in prison following the operations that began on September 12. It also noted that more trans women had been arrested in two separate operations in Ankara and İzmir following the initial operation in Ankara.
The joint statement continued:
We call for freedom; those in power choose oppression. Yet, drawing on more than 30 years of struggle, the justness of defending our existence and life itself, and our confidence that everyone in this land who stands for goodness, beauty, a dignified life, equality, freedom, and democracy stands with us, we know this: No one can prosper through oppression!
The statement was signed by the May 17 Association, the November 20 Association for Combating Hate Crimes, the Ankara Rainbow Families Association (GALADER), the Young LGBTI+ Association, the HEVİ LGBTI+ Association, the Kaos GL Association, the Red Umbrella Association, the Lambdaistanbul Association, the Association of Families and Relatives of LGBTI+ People (LİSTAG), the Mersin 7 Colors LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, the Pink Life LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, the Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association (SPoD), the Free Colors Association, and the UniKuir Association.
Background
The operations dubbed “My Family Is Safe” began on September 12. Members of LGBTI+ associations, rights defenders, activists, and journalists were taken into police custody. Rights defenders, including members of Kaos GL’s executive and supervisory boards, were subsequently remanded in custody.
Five trans women were also remanded in custody in Ankara, while orders were issued blocking access to LGBTI+ organizations’ websites and social media accounts.
