Prosecution Rejects GLBT Association Closure

Baver Çakır from Lambda told bianet that they're planning a campaign against governors' attempts to close down gay, lesbian, transvestite and transsexual associations around the country.

Istanbul Governorship based its complaint on the article 56 of Turkish Civic Law which states that "no association can be established against law".

In return, the Public Prosecutor's Office cited the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights as grounds for rejecting the application.

In its reasoned decision, the prosecutor's office noted, "homosexuality can't be regarded as immoral".

Each citizen has a right to non-violent association and organization, it said.

"In an era when gender discrimination is debated in public, it's clear that homosexuality can't be regarded as immoral. It's not defined as a crime neither in the Penal Code nor in any other specific law to be homosexual".

Lambda is the fourth association that governors have filed a complaint against. We'll go forward with campaigns to protest this approach in coming days, said Çakır.

Lambda

Lambdaistanbul is an organization that was formed by a group of gays and lesbians; right after the Istanbul city government banned the Christopher Street Day Sexual Liberation Activities that were attempted to be held in July 1993.

After this, the group that used to gather under the name "Gokkusagi" (Rainbow) took the name Lambdaistanbul.

It's run by volunteers and promotes a society free from all kinds of discrimination, our main focus, being heterosexism.(EÜ)