In Turkey, ’s not a crime to be gay. But LGBT activists see a risg threat. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• GENR BENRS, GAY INS AND MEDIA: LBIAN AND GAY VISUAL RHETORIC TURKEY
• TURKISH SGER THREATENED WH ‘ANNIHILATN’ OVER TENR GAY LOVE SONG
• IN TURKEY, ’S NOT A CRIME TO BE GAY. BUT LGBT ACTIVISTS SEE A RISG THREAT.

GENR BENRS, GAY INS AND MEDIA: LBIAN AND GAY VISUAL RHETORIC TURKEY

In 2007, Kaos GL, a bimonthly publitn of the Kaos Gay and Lbian Cultural Rearch and Solidary Associatn Ankara, Turkey, voted s November/December issue to “Turkiye’n Gay Ikonlari” (Turkey’s Gay Ins). “Indian Gay Ins: Queers Like Us, A Tribute to Indian Gay Ins” was scribed by Bombay Dost, a lol LGBT magaze, as “an exhibn of Indian gay ins featurg some of the te lears of the queer stggle who also spell excellence their profsn” (The Bombay Dost Team). The projects Turkey and India provi evince for the emergence and creasg importance of visual reprentatns, cludg gay ins, the formatn and bolsterg of ternatnal gay muni non-Wtern ntexts.

In this article’s discsn of the Turkish gay ins popular culture and the ntemporary lbian and gay practic of visual rhetoric Turkey, I analyze three sets of ntemporary reprentatns and the acpanyg practic of visual rhetoric: 1) two Turkish celebri who are wily visible genr transgrsors Turkey: the late Zeki Muren (1931-1996), a flamboyant queer male sger, [2] and Bulent Ersoy, a male-to-female transsexual sger, both of whom Kaos GL rears voted “gay ins”; 2) the gay ins issue of Kaos GL, a Turkish LGBT muny magaze prt, which adapted the Wtern ncept of gay ins to the needs of the Turkish LGBT muny through a cril engagement wh the ncept; and 3) the llegiate lbian and gay fliers, webse, and “fanz” (Turkish transleratn for “fanze, ” i. In this manner, I monstrate that while visual rhetoric n empower non-Wtern lbian and gay populatns to rist the domant lol reprentatns of homosexualy and produce and dissemate affirmg alternativ, the medium utilized and the uneven ndns of productn and circulatn om one medium to another terme the extent of the relative fluence of existg reprentatns. For Turkish lbian and gay dividuals the 1980s and 1990s, this search often began wh the genr-bendg celebri Zeki Muren and Bulent Ersoy, who appeared extensively on stage and mastream Turkish media on televisn, films, and newspapers.

Yet, paradoxilly, this visibily did not mean that Turkish society accepted non-normative sexual and genr inti, cludg homosexualy, and the knowledge about sexual subcultur still remaed “fugive” spe the mass-mediated queer visibily of the two celebri.

TURKISH SGER THREATENED WH ‘ANNIHILATN’ OVER TENR GAY LOVE SONG

To illtrate how Muren has bee a figure of genred cency, spe his genr bendg, Stok discs what he lls Muren’s “astute tactil mov” (310) terms of his overall public image, relign, and his homosexualy. [4] Muren’s tactics to steer his public image clear of his homosexualy this manner, through his claim to ancient, allegedly heterosexual masculy, were also supported by other mass media reprentatns.

IN TURKEY, ’S NOT A CRIME TO BE GAY. BUT LGBT ACTIVISTS SEE A RISG THREAT.

From the perspective of the homosexual dience, however, as I discs the next sectn the ntext of Kaos GL‘s special issue on gay ins, Muren and Ersoy’s barga wh the heterosexist hegemony is seen as havg negative nsequenc for this particular segment of the Turkish dience, sce meant distancg, nial, and erasure of LGBT existence, fuelg heterosexism and homophobia Turkish society.

Kaos GL’s special issue was revolutnary that ma known the existence of gay ins, and by implitn, of a gay dience, Turkey through s labelg of celebri known by all Turks as “gay ins.