transsexuality in Turkey

Anadolu: Turkish court annuls infertility requirement for gender change

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reports the Constitutional Court ruled to annul a stipulation in the Turkish Civil Code “to be deprived of the ability to reproduce” to allow gender change. This is verbatim translation like all our translations.

Source: Aylin Sırıklı Dal, “Cinsiyet değiştirmede ‘üreme yeteneğinden yoksun olma’ şartı kalktı,” Anadolu Ajansı, Nov. 30, 2017, http://aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/cinsiyet-degistirmede-ureme-yeteneginden-yoksun-olma-sarti-kalkti/985974

The Constitutional Court decided to annul the legal requirement “to be deprived of the ability to reproduce” to allow gender change.

According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency correspondent, a homosexual opened a case in the Ankara 4th Court of First Instance after being unable to change their identity card due to not having had gender change surgery.

The court petition asked the court to evaluate the claim that the Turkish Civil Code’s Article 40/2 mandating the requirement of gender change surgery to change one’s identity card violated the constitution.

Ankara 4th Court of First Instance found the petition to be serious and took the file to the Constitutional Court.

The General Council of the Constitutional Court discussed the basis of the petition at its meeting. The Council rejected the annulment Turkish Civil Code’s Article 40/2 with a majority of votes stating “the court can make the necessary changes in the population registry after an official health institution confirms the gender change surgery was realized.”  

Annulment of requirement to be deprived of reproduction ability

Another petition on this subject was made by the Edirne 1st Court of First Instance. The court applied to the Constitutional Court to annul the statement “….and to be permanently deprived of the ability to reproduce…” in the second sentence of Turkish Civil Code’s Article 40/1.  

The General Council of the Constitutional Court discussed the basis of the petition and made its decision.

The High Court found the requirement “to be permanently deprived of the ability to reproduce” to allow gender change to be contrary to the Constitution and annulled it with a majority of votes.

The first paragraph of the law used to state, “A person wanting to change their gender may apply to a court in person to request the allowance of gender change. However, in order to be allowed, the person needs to have passed the age of 18 and be unmarried, and document through an official health council’s report from an education and research hospital that they are of transsexual constitution, that it’s necessary to undergo gender change for their psychological health and be permanently deprived of the ability to reproduce.”

 

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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