The Big Family Platform held an anti-LGBTI+ rally in Fatih, İstanbul yesterday, marking the third similar event this year.
The platform demands the prohibition of “LGBT propaganda” in Turkey and removing the concepts of gender equality from the legislation. It has collected about 150,000 wet signatures for these demands and submitted them to the parliament.
However, this time, an LGBTI+ right sgroup held a counter-demonstration near the Fatih Memorial Park, where the anti-LGBTI+ rally took place. Members of the Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation (SPoD) distributed lokma, a traditional donut-like dessert, for the memory of Ahmet Yıldız, who was allegedly killed by his father in 2008 for being gay, a symbolic case for gay rights in Turkey.
The association said it intended to draw attention to the right to life and the struggle for justice of LGBTI+s as part of the campaign entitled “I Have Always been Here” (#BenHepBuradaydım).
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ LGBTİ+'lar, LGBTİ+ karşıtı mitinge karşı, eşcinsel olduğu için öldürülen #AhmetYıldız için Fatih Camii önünde lokma dağıttı
— bianet (@bianet_org) September 15, 2024
🗣️ SPoD Genel Koordinatörü Oğulcan Yediveren:
“Ne olursa olsun verdiğimiz mücadeleden vazgeçmiyoruz, bu bir onur mücadelesi.”
📹: @tucyil pic.twitter.com/xqB81LQI3E
‘They are organizing hatred against us’
Speaking to bianet about their protest , SPoD General Coordinator Oğulcan Yediveren said,
“We do not give up our struggle no matter what, because our struggle is a struggle for an honorable life. This is not something you can give up, it is not something you can say it is not essential. They can tell us that we are not from here as much as they want.
“I am a 30-year-old gay man. I did not come from a rich, privileged family. I have been struggling hard to survive in this land for 30 years. The struggle for my rights is an integral part of my personal struggle for survival. It has to be so because there are still some people who, with a pat on the back, organize hatred against us under the pretext of protecting the family.
“We know very well that if these groups did not organize hatred against us, we can transform this society into a society where everyone lives together in peace with the struggle for our rights. Just like in Pride Marches, we once again emphasize our demand for living together with the delight we hand out. We firmly believe that this demand has a response in our society. Open the barricades, lift the bans and then see how tens of thousands of people fill those streets during the next Pride March.”
The murder of Ahmet Yıldız
Ahmet Yıldız was shot and killed by his father Yahya Yıldız on Jul 15, 2008. Another person was wounded during the incident. His body was not taken by his family and he was buried in the Cemetery of the Unknowns.
The trial, which began on Sep 8, 2009 following the complaint of the injured person, has not been concluded despite 40 hearings. The fugitive defendant Yahya Yıldız, for whom a red notice was issued in 2012, has still not been found.
Dozens of judges and prosecutors have changed in the case. The fugitive father Yahya Yıldız was last seen in Zakho, Iraq, during the investigation phase of the case.
(TY/VK)