University LGBTI+ groups: We existed yesterday, we will exist tomorrow

Click to read the article in Turkish

University LGBTI+ communities have released a joint statement about the closure of Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club and the discriminatory remarks of state officials targeting the LGBTI+s.

Published in Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian and English, statement has read, "The decision which the Bogazici trustee rector unlawfully took to close the Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club, clearly revealed the attitude of the government and the so-called rector towards LGBT+s."

The full statement of the groups is as follows:

'We object to this unlawfulness'

"As university LGBTI+ communities, we are in solidarity with all our friends who are targeted, marginalized, and subjected to torture in detention.

"We do not accept the hate policy that tries to demonize Boğaziçi University students and Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club who resist the usurpation of university autonomy, which is the basis of academic freedom.

"The right to meet and demonstrate is a constitutional right of all citizens. Unlawful measures taken to prevent the exercise of this right require the government and the police forces to answer to the law.

"The decision which the Bogazici trustee rector unlawfully took to close the Boğaziçi University LGBTI+ Studies Club clearly revealed the attitude of the government and the so-called rector towards LGBT+s. We object to this unlawfulness that fundamentally violates the freedom of association!

"We remind the government that utters hate speech from the highest ranks at the top of their voice, cannot tolerate the rainbow flag neither on the streets nor in the parliament, intervene in our friends' rights and respond with torture: Your responsibilities arising from the Constitution and the international conventions to which we are a party require that you do not discriminate between your citizens and combat torture effectively.

"LGBTI+ individuals will not bow to this reactionary blockade! We existed yesterday, we exist today, and we will exist tomorrow. We call on everyone who believes in human rights, democracy and equality to solidarity."

The undersigned

Bilgi Gökkuşağı (Bilgi Rainbow); Hacettepe Kuir Araştırmaları (Hacettepe Queer Studies); Lavender LGBTİQ+; ODTÜ LGBTİ+ Dayanışması (METU LGBTI+ Solidarity); İstanbl Technical University (İTÜ) Cins Arı; ÖzÜ LGBTİQ+; İstanbul Üniversitesi Eşitlik Topluluğu (İstanbul University Equality Community); Koç Üniversitesi Kuir (Koç University Queer); BAU Renkli Çatı (BAU Colorful Roof); 7Tepe7Renk (7 Hills 7 Colors); İKUİR; SU Cins+ Kulüp; GSÜ Lion Queer; Bilkent Renkli Düşün (Bilkent Think Colorful)

(EMK/SD)