Source: SPoD, “İstanbul’daki LGBT Örgütleri ve Bağımsız Aktivistler LGBT Siyasi Temel ve Katılım Platformunu Kurdu,” (“LGBT Organizations and Independent Activists in Istanbul Start the LGBT Political Representation and Participation Platform,”) http://www.spod.org.tr/turkce/istanbuldaki-lgbt-orgutleri-ve-bagimsiz-aktivistler-lgbt-siyasi-temsil-ve-katilim-platformunu-kurdu/
The Gezi Resistance and the continuing park forums have led to an unmistakeable conclusion for LGBTs: the opportunities for our visibility and the clear expression of our common demands. LGBTs combined their long years of experience with the power of the resistance and the support of different parts of society and poured out to the streets as tens of thousands of people in the 21st Pride Walk.
With the power we attained from the Gezi Resistance and the struggle LGBTs have led for years, we have started working on the “LGBT Political Representation and Participation Platform.” The platform aims to bring our political demands regarding the local elections to a common ground and to ensure that our demands are respected, improved, and set to motion.
Objectives
- The removal of the political and social obstacles preventing LGBT participation in politics,
- To conduct projects that enable LGBT representation in decision-making mechanisms,
- To encourage LGBT people to run as candidates in national and local elections and create visibility,
- To enable coordination between politicians defending LGBT rights in political parties and the LGBT movement,
- To institute measures to end transphobic and homophobic discourses in the political arena.
As the LGBT Political Representation and Participation Platform, we believe an organized political authority that works systematically and effectively is necessary to realize these goals, to create participative mechanisms that give LGBT people say in their own lives, and for transparent, democratic, and decentralized administrations. We start out with an independent platform that goes beyond political parties and groups, that includes LGBT organizations, formations, and activists in order to voice our local political demands and to say “a livable city is possible for LGBTs.”
We call on you to take these first steps together to organize and campaign for the strengthening of LGBT political representation and participation in the course of the forthcoming local elections.
Signatories:
Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association
Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association
SPoD- Social Policies, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association
Independent LGBT Activists