Three LGBTI+s not let in İstanbul beach clubs

"Trans women exist" (File photo)

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Three LGBTI+s have stated that they were subjected to hate speech and discrimination by employees of two beach clubs in Büyükada, an island in İstanbul.

A.T., A.G. and D.B. have brought the case to the court via their attorney Eren Keskin, a lawyer and rights defender.

After arriving at Büyükada, the three people saw that the employees of "Yörükoğlu" and "Nakibey" beach clubs were handing out catalogs to people, Keskin said in the petition of complaint.

However, the three people were not given catalogs and told "We don't take people like you to the beach. This is a family beach," according to the petition. Also, they asked a family passing by, "Would you like to swim with those?" pointing at the three people.

When they asked whether there were written rules that prevent LGBTI+s from entering the beach, an employee "inflicted discriminatory violence against the clients with words such as 'faggot, fairy, tranny'," Kesin stated. He also called out to employees of the other beach club, saying, "Don't let these faggots in the beach," she added.

In the petition, Keskin cited the international conventions against discrimination signed by Turkey and stated that the İstanbul Convention was also violated by the beach club employees. She requested a lawsuit to be filed against the beach clubs for violating Turkish Penal Code Article 122 titled, "Hatred and discrimination," ECHR article 14 titled, "Prohibition of discrimination" and the Council of Europe İstanbul Convention.

"We only want the right to life"

"We moved away from there after being targeted. They constantly stared at us and disturbed and with their gaze and words. I was very worried there. They could have hurt us there," D.B. told bianet. "We were there with our [gender] identities being overt. That's why we were targeted."

A.T. said, "We are already being discriminated against because of being Kurds. Secondly, Secondly, we are being otherized because of our gender identity. These are not ending. We have been targeted by President Erdoğan. He made us a target for the people. We already knew that we would experience such things. This year, we have been targeted more."

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"We have already come to the world with a disadvantage. It's not right to call us, 'the others of the others.' We want our own right to life, our own social life. Should we lock in ourselves between the four walls? You have already put millions of people into F-type [prisons]. Will you make people live through these because of their gender identities? We exist and will exist with our gender identity.

"We didn't go to the police station because we didn't want to be maltreated anymore"

"Not much happened when we were on the ferry. They tried to disturb us even with their gaze but that doesn't bother us too much because we are used to that," A.G. said.

"What offended me the most was he made us a target for others. He was always looking for support. That was very disturbing. They made it clear that they would not take us in.

"It was the first time that I was cast out like that. I felt that arrows were heading towards me. That offended me. This is a very bad situation. I work like everyone else but we could not get service for our money.

"We reached the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Princes' Islands Municipality. We have created a record for the crime. We didn't go to the police station because we didn't want to be maltreated anymore. The President's words came to our head, they could attack us. So we left and applied to our attorney.

"As if those transphobic people were not made of flesh and bones. I can't understand they are so full of hatred and animosity. This is very corrosive.

Beach employees rejected the allegations

Employees of both beach clubs told bianet that the allegations were not true. An employee from the Yörükoğlu beach club said, "Why would we do such a thing," while e Nakibey beach club employee said, "I would tell if such a thing happened. And they shouldn't go to beaches on their own anyway."

(EMK/VK)