Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination

The term “Gender Identity” cannot be removed from the “Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute”

Source: Kaos GL, “Ayrımcılıkla Mücadele ve Eşitlik Kurulu Kanun Tasarısı Taslağı’ndan “Cinsel Kimlik” İbaresi Çıkartılamaz!”, (“The term “Gender Identity” cannot be removed from the “Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute,”) 2 February 2012, http://www.kaosgldernegi.org/etkinlikdetay.php?id=7248

We have just learned that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) removed the term “gender identity” from the Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination’s Draft Statute.

We, the LGBT Associations who work on human rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans (LGBT) people in Turkey, demand the re-inclusion of the term “gender identity” to the draft statute of the Commission for Equality and Fighting Against Discrimination.

Removing the term “gender identity” from the draft statute, prepared in order to protect citizens against discrimination, is to legitimize the discrimination and human rights violations committed against LGBT people. The removal of “gender identity” shows us once again that the homophobic approach of the State Minister Aliye Kavaf who stated that “homosexuality is an illness,” reflects the AKP government’s politics.

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