İzmir Bar executives acquitted for condemning Diyanet's anti-LGBTİ+ sermon

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The İzmir Bar Association's former chair, Özkan Yücel, and ten board members were acquitted at the İzmir 1st Heavy Penal Court for "openly insulting religious values" yesterday (April 24).

Precisely three years earlier, during a Friday sermon on April 24, 2020, the head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Ali Erbaş, held a controversial sermon stating that 'homosexuality and sodomy' results in hundreds of thousands of people being exposed to HIV.

"Islam considers adultery to be one of the greatest sins. It condemns homosexuality and sodomy. What is the reason for this? It brings diseases and destroys generations. That is the reason. Hundreds of thousands of people are exposed to HIV caused by this great sin," he preached, adding that they must fight together to protect people from such evils.

Subsequently, several bar associations condemned the speech, calling it discriminatory, targeting LGBTI+ people and those living with HIV. However, the lawyers' criticism resulted in being tried for "openly insulting religious values."

'We will continue to fight this struggle to the end'

The İzmir Bar Association members spoke to the press outside the court after the hearing.

"The resistance shown by the İzmir Bar Association against all statements, especially those made on behalf of individuals who are marginalized and excluded with hate speech, has found its counterpart today, and our colleagues have been acquitted," İzmir Bar Association Chair Sefa Yılmaz stated.

President of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) Erinç Sağkan remarked that they will not be intimidated by these pressures, "We will continue to fight this struggle to the end. Despite hatred, long live life."

Özkan Yücel, the former President of the İzmir Bar Association at the time when the case was filed, supported the association's fight against hate speech and promotion of free speech. He stated that the trial was reversed, and the individuals who opposed hate speech were the ones being tried.

"A case opened against those who use their freedom of expression and oppose hate speech turned into one in which those who worked to open this case were tried. We named it before. Today, we live in fascist conditions in Turkey, and the judiciary never acts independently. I informed Ali Erbaş after the hearing. I said, 'I have bad news for you.' The İzmir Bar Association continues to fight against hatred."

TİP MP candidate İrfan Değirmenci emphasized that LGBTI+ people in Turkey do not have the feel alone.

"The decisions made in İzmir will be taken into account in the decisions of justice and law, and they will not feel alone. We are not alone. We are not wrong," the politician said.

Second-worst country for LGBTI+s

Turkey has been heavily criticized for its treatment of the LGBTI+ community. The country is ranked the second-worst for LGBTI+s in Europe, according to the Rainbow Index of ILGA, an LGBTI+ rights group. A recent EU Commission stated that the country's anti-discrimination legislation does not meet European standards.

Additionally, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) are increasingly leading anti-LGBTI+ initiatives ahead of the dual polls on May 14.

In a rally in Bursa on April 24, he accused opposition parties of being "pro-LGBT," urging young people to "not oppose marriage" and to "not look at these LGBTs," reaffirming that his electoral alliance is walking on the path of the holy family.

In a statement a few days earlier, he alleged that the opposition would abolish the Presidency of Religious Affairs if they were victorious in the elections.

Previously, Erdoğan had described the "imposition of LGBT" as a "global dictatorship tool" threatening Islamic values. (EMK/WM/VK)