Thousands gathered in the conservative heart of Istanbul last week to urge the government to change its laws to protect the family by penalizing homosexuality and banning activities that support the LGBTQ movement.
Several thousand people have taken part in an anti-LGBT demonstration in Istanbul.
They called for LGBT associations to be closed down and displayed signs that read: “protect your family and your generation”, “Say no to society without gender”, and “Father + mother + baby = family”.
The petition, titled “Protect your family and generation from perversity,” was signed by 150,000 people, according to Kursat Mican, chairman of the Islamo-nationalist Unity of Opinion and Struggle Platform, which organized the gathering.
The gathering had support from the conservative Justice and Development Party government and its informal nationalist allies. An advert for the anti-LGBTQ march was also shown on television after gaining the approval of the country’s broadcasting council, which deemed it a “public interest”.
Turkey’s deputy Culture Minister Serdar Cam lauded the event. “Families who raise their voices to protect their children from those who want to pervert future generations … will meet today at 1430,” he tweeted on the day of the Great Family Gathering.
The country’s largest anti-LGBT demonstration was criticised by human rights organisations. ILGA Europe, an organisation fighting for LGBT equality in Europe and Central Asia, tweeted: “the Turkish state needs to uphold its constitutional obligation to protect all its citizens against hate and violence”.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Amnesty International office said public service announcements advertising the march violated Turkey’s non-discrimination principles.
Though homosexuality is constitutionally legal in Turkey and it had been de-penalized in the mid-19th century during the Ottoman Empire, local and international groups express woes about growing hate speech toward the LGBTQ community, particularly in the last seven years.
ILGA Europe ranked Turkey second to last — just ahead of Azerbaijan — in its review of 49 European and Central Asian countries in its 2020 report. These include statements from Turkey’s head of religious affairs who accused homosexuals of “spreading the disease” at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic or President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who told people not to listen to “lesbians-schmesbians.”
Last year, the government dropped the Istanbul Convention on protecting women’s rights, claiming it encouraged homosexuality and threatened the traditional family structure. In addition, after Istanbul had in 2014 hosted more than 100,000 people for a Gay Pride march it has since clamped down on similar gatherings citing security issues. Those who have sought to rally have found themselves battling severe restrictions, including arrest. A rally last June saw more than 200 people arrested in a police crackdown.
Sources: France 24, Al-Monitor, Euronews