The mashup photo of Taner Kurucan, a Soma resident who was allegedly slapped by PM Erdoğan during his visit, and Yasin Keskin, an LGBTI activist holding a banner “Even if we are gay”, went viral online. bianet interviewed Yasin Keskin as the mainstream media articles and comments covertly legitimized the violence against as he was gay.
Yasin Keskin, the real owner of the photo taken in Gay Pride, filed a criminal complaint to Antalya Prosecutor’s Office in order to determine the distributors of the photo and prevent the publishing of the images. The criminal complaint has been submitted to İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office.
“The comments under the released photo on social media include threat and hate phrases. I’m 29 years old and I have spent 29 years with the oppression and violence of society against homosexual people. I have been exposed to the violence for many times during my struggle and now I am scared of going to Istanbul, even going out,” LGBTI activist Keskin told bianet.
“When I went to the courthouse, people said that they saw the photo. People that I don’t know have sent messages on social media. If anyone would recognize me while walking on the street, I can be exposed to a lynching attempt. We are living in a country in which homophobic and transgender murders have been widely occurred,” he added.
“If a gay person was slapped, the violence is legitimate”
“Even the news articles that denied the authenticity of the photo,” he continued, “emphasized on the fact that Taner Kurucay is not gay. However, I am still a victim here.”
“We don’t know the sexual orientation of Taner Kuruca. But being gay is an insulting and libelous concern. In the comments under the photo, on one hand homosexuals have been insulted; on the other hand they have been reflected as provocateurs. If the slapped person is gay, the violence is legitimated. For example, there was a comment such as ‘I watched that video, the PM is definitely right. Fags had dared to insult the great PM of Turkey and then they tried to escape. They deserved, what I can say’.
However in other news which considered the photo as false, they wrote that Taner Kurucan is not gay. They have continued to divulge my privacy. Could you imagine that? A website disclosed my photo by blurring my legs, but providing my name and face.
I don’t know what Taner Kurucan thinks, but I condemned that attack against my personal rights. And I am asking that: What would differ if a gay person was slapped there? Is a fag a human-like creature that can be beaten or insulted?” Keskin said.
“I have exposed to the violence for years, but I came up regarding this issue”
While mentioning his LGBTI struggle for years and the exposed violence due to this struggle, Keskin protested against the ignorance of his struggle and instead being known due to this issue.
“I have struggled for LGBTI rights over the years and performed several performances. I exposed to the police violence and struggled against the prosecution and I wasn’t considered as newsworthy. Now, due to the slap of another person, in order to damage his reputation, my photos have been disclosed.
In Turkey, homosexuals have not been considered even in court houses. But I will go on struggling,” he said. (ÇT/CB/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
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