The official fictn, Brian Whaker explas, is that gay people don’t exist the Middle East. They do – and for many of them, attus of fay and society are a bigger problem than fear of beg persecuted
Contents:
- TURKEY’S FIRST 'GAY MARRIAGE'
- EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
- THE FIRST COUNTRI TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
- IS TURKEY READY TO ELECT S FIRST OPENLY GAY LAWMAKER?
- TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TURKEY
- ARAB-KURDISH UPLE TI THE KNOT LANDMARK GAY WEDDG
TURKEY’S FIRST 'GAY MARRIAGE'
* first gay marriage in turkey *
It is bee of this that gay pri pageants, unthkable other preponrantly Mlim untri, n be held Istanbul whout the kds of homophobic attacks one sometim se at such events, cludg some nservative Orthodox Christian muni the regn. This do not, however, mean that there is broad social acceptance of homosexualy or that life is easy for the lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) muny. Ek Ker and Emllah Tuzun, two gay men their 20s, found this out the hard way after they cid early September to publicly “marry” Istanbul.
Some mor chang have recently been troduced to amend a blatantly homophobic article the penal after a se was lodged wh the Constutnal Court.
EVERYTHG YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEG GAY MLIM UNTRI
Here's a gui to tips for gay and lbian travelers Turkey - everythg you need to know. * first gay marriage in turkey *
It is also te that technilly speakg, homosexualy is not illegal Turkey, although statut relatg to public moraly and obsceny are often ed agast gays. 2 a private ceremony aboard a yacht on the Bospos to avoid homophobic attacks. My fay knew I was gay, but they reacted very angrily to my gettg married, ” said Ker.
THE FIRST COUNTRI TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE
Kip believ that will take a very long time, if at all, for gay marriage to be regnized Turkey, where circumstanc for members of the LGBT muny, she says, are gettg worse unr the Jtice and Development Party (AKP), which has Islamist roots.
“Jt the past 2½ months, 25 attacks, cludg murr, have taken place agast gays and lbians. “Topics such as gay marriage and child adoptn for gays are for the future, ” she said.
When asked to pare the suatn of gays and lbians Turkey wh those other Islamic untri the regn, such as Iran and Sdi Arabia, Kip poted out that gays and lbians om the untri seek refuge Turkey, which they see as a relatively safer place to be as a steppg stone for movg to the eedom of the Wt. While life for gays and lbians Turkey is difficult absolute terms, and ght wh dangers, ndns for the refuge Turkey are still 10 tim better than, for example, ndns Iran, Kip explaed.
IS TURKEY READY TO ELECT S FIRST OPENLY GAY LAWMAKER?
We also have a gay pri week, which is attend by LGBT members as far afield as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran and the Arab world, ” Kip said.
TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TURKEY
Turkey may ed be a relatively better place for gays and lbians pared wh the untri, but this has not ma life any easier for Ker and Tuzun. Dpe this admistrative hiccup, same-sex marriag are outlawed Turkey, where LGBTQ+ people experience wispread discrimatn spe homosexualy never havg been illegal the untry. Acrdg to the kgdom’s relig police, the school was fed 100, 000 riyals ($26, 650) for displayg “the emblem of the homosexuals” on s buildg, one of s admistrators was jailed and the offendg parapet was swiftly repated to match a blue rabow-ee se of the gaily pated school shows how progrs one part of the world n have adverse effects elsewhere and serv as a remr that there are plac where the nnectn between rabows and LGBT rights is eher new or yet to be Afghanistan, only a few years ago, there was a craze for ratg rs wh rabow stickers – which Che factori were only too happy to supply.
ARAB-KURDISH UPLE TI THE KNOT LANDMARK GAY WEDDG
It wasn’t until the Afghan Pajhwok news agency explaed how they might be misterpreted that the craze me to a sudn on the ter and you will also fd pi of the “Rabow Qur’an” for sale – an unnscly gay edn of the holy book wh tted pag of every hue and remend on one webse as “an ial gift for Mlims” there are two sis to this cross-cultural misunrstandg. Genr segregatn, which go to extreme lengths the more nservative Mlim untri, enurag homosocial behavur, creatg a suatn where men are often more fortable the prence of other men and where placg a hand on another man’s knee is a sign of iendship, not an vatn to sex.
Morocn activists participate a vigil Rabat to pay tribute to the victims of the Orlando gay club shootg.