Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ was working as a football referee in Trabzon, Turkey for 14 years. After many ordeals in the military system, he finally got his “unfit to serve in the military” report based on his sexual orientation. The Turkish Military deems homosexuality a “psychosexual disorder.” He submitted this report to the Turkish Football Federation in Febraury 2009. This report was leaked to the press and his sexual orientation was outed. From that moment on, he was no longer assigned matches, barred from exams, and targeted by homophobia. In November 2010, Dinçdağ filed a suit against the Turkish Football Federation for the violation of his right to privacy and discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation. The 10th hearing of the case will be heard on 10 December 2013 on Human Rights Day.

Dinçdağ explained the process and the rights violations in a press statement with Republican People’s Party MP Melda Onur. Please turn the captions on for English subtitles.