Medicine

Don’t be Afraid, Listen, Understand: Professor Şahika Yüksel tells us about transsexuals

Source: Hazal Özbarış, “Korkma, dinle, anla: Şahika Hoca Transseksüelleri Anlatıyor,” (“Don’t be Afraid, Listen, Understand: Professor Şahika Yüksel tells us about transsexuals,”) t24, June 9, 2014. http://t24.com.tr/haber/korkma-dinle-anla-sahika-hoca-transseksuelleri-anlatiyor,260612

From the “wall” surgeries of 1980s to the Bülent Ersoy law, from Rüzgar Erkoç to the trans individual who sued Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights

Brother Bülent1

Mistakenly” used every now and then to publicly refer to Bülent Ersoy2, who has had surgery 33 years ago, this phrase is a never-exhausted theme in celebrity news in Turkey. The name of the reaction, which extends from that reflex-like chuckle given when reading news such as this, all the way to murder, is transphobia.

Because this transphobia is shared by the majority of people, even though the sentence for murder with intent is life in prison, if the murdered victim is trans, the following two statements will be sufficient for a judge to reduce the sentences:

I thought they were a woman.”

They propositioned [me] to have anal sex.”

Thus, the judge, “whose manhood is said to be at stake” and who is of the same gender as the murderer, determines that the murderer has been unduly provoked, and Turkey, yet again, is guaranteed to be number one [in trans murders] in Europe.3

The theme of Trans Pride Week, which will be held on 16th-22nd June, is “The State is The Perpetrator” because of the hatred, attacks, and murders that trans people experience, not only in the courtroom, but in all arenas where the state leaves its mark.

In order to learn more about the Turkey that is experienced by trans people, and that hardly features in news media or popular television programs, we visited Prof. Şahika Yüksel.

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Legal Action Concerning the So-Called Treatment of Homosexuality

Source: “Homoseksüelliğin Sözde Tedavisi Hakkında Yasal Girişim,” (“Legal Action Concerning The So-Called Treatment of Homosexuality,”) The Psychiatric Association of Turkey, 26 December 2013, http://psikiyatri.org.tr/presses.aspx?press=372

To Our Esteemed Colleagues and Public,

As the Psychiatric Association of Turkey we continue our work against activities and implementations that are outside ethical or scientific boundaries. In this context, on such occasions that lead to a breach of professional boundaries, we take legal actions to protect both public health and our profession.

We would like to share with you the information that we took legal action and filed complaints with the relevant institutions such as the governorship, the board of advertisement and the public prosecutor’s office concerning the so-called medicine “homofin.” Homofin was put on the market through a website with the claim that the so-called medicine “treats” homosexuality.

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