Source: Kaos GL. “Eğitimde LGBT’lere Yönelik Ayrımcılığa Son Verin!” (“Stop Discrimination against LGBT Students in Education!”), 16 September 2013, http://kaosgl.org/sayfa.php?id=14819
Kaos GL Education Workgroup released a statement on 16 September 2013 as the new school year begins.
The only fact that does not change in the National Education System: Discrimination!
“Today the new school year begins. In the National Education System, which has been changed 5 times in the last 10 years, so much so that it has turned into a puzzle, the only fact that does not change is discrimination. Those who claim that it has become a more up to date system have not taken a single necessary step towards eradicating discrimination. Instead, implementations that deepen discrimination were put into practice. Religious elements were gradually put in place in education and requests from Alevis, people with different religions, atheists, and parents who want their children to get a secular education were disregarded. Kurdish people’s request for education in their native language was not fulfilled in spite of the ongoing “peace” process.”
LGBT students have to struggle to exist!
“LGBT students get the biggest share of the Turkish National Education System’s discriminative, exclusionist, and marginalizing politics. Not only are they deprived of the universal “right” to education ensured by the constitution, by law, and by international agreements, but also the discrimination against LGBTs is rendered invisible. LGBT students struggle to exist and to be self-respecting independent individuals under the pressure of their parents, teachers, and school managements who have been educated by the same educational process that is intolerant of difference, variation and pluralism.”