Ömer Akpınar

Trans woman prevented from entering the Turkish parliament: “If you have a blue ID, you are a man”

Source: Ömer Akpınar, “Trans kadına Meclis engeli: Mavi kimliğin varsa erkeksin!“ (“Trans woman prevented from entering the Turkish parliament: ‘If you have a blue ID, you are a man’”), KaosGL, 19 September 2014, http://www.kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=17552

A trans woman was discriminated against this morning [September 19, 2014] prior to a press conference to be held by the CHP (Republican People’s Party) MP Aykan Erdemir at the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The woman who wished to attend the meeting concerning LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans) rights was asked to go through security checkpoint designated for men on the grounds that she carried a blue identity card.

buse_kilickaya

Buse Kılıçkaya from the Pink Life Association spoke with KaosGL.org about the incident that occurred at the security check before the press meeting:

“I have been going to the Grand National Assembly to attend these civil rights meetings since 2000. This morning we went through the pre-search without a problem; at the second search, there was a security detector marked as “woman” and I naturally chose that one. There was a commotion as they were searching my bag. I sensed that the security officer felt the need to confer with their friends about a matter. Since I had entered through here before, I assumed that the issue had something to do with the materials we brought, but that was not the case.”

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Voltrans: Trans Men and Feminism Together

Source: Ömer Akpınar, “Voltrans: Trans Men and Feminism Together,” kaosGL.org, 31 January 2014, http://kaosgl.org/page.php?id=15733

Turkey’s very first trans men initiative, Voltrans, has a documentary now with the same name. The first screening of Voltrans took place in the 3rd KuirFest in Ankara between 16-23 January 2014. Özge Özgüner and P. Ulaş Dutlu, who made the movie, told their Voltrans journey to kaosGL.org.

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