Queerphobia | Whose family is safe?

Protest in front of the Turkish embassy against the crackdown on queer people in Turkey. Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire “Whose family is safe from whom and how?” The question is raised in the opening speech of a solidarity rally in front of the Turkish embassy in Berlin. It is directed against the actions of the Turkish authorities as part of the “My Family is Safe” operation. Apartments and club rooms were searched and queer people were arrested. The initiatives “Queers for Turkey” and “Pride Rebellion” have called for protests.

Police operations took place in 15 provinces last weekend. Criminal investigations were initiated against 162 people as well as nine clubs and 13 companies. Websites and social media accounts of queer organizations were blocked. In the case against the Kaos GL association, seven members of the board and control council as well as the journalist Tuğba Tekerek were taken into custody. Seven other people were released on conditions. They are accused, among other things, of violating the association law and aiding and abetting the publication of “obscene” content. 

For the demonstrators in Berlin, this is a criminalization of queer life. “Neither being LGBTİ+ nor organizing is a crime,” it says in the opening speech. The attacks were also directed against associations that provided material, legal and psychological assistance. This meant that the very structures that supported people after exclusion, violence or the loss of their jobs were targeted.

Olcay Atık lives in Berlin and is seeking asylum here. In Turkey he was active in various resistance movements. Today it's about protesting against "arbitrary detentions and the criminalization of queer identities," he says in an interview with "nd."

The situation has worsened over the years. As a child, Atık was openly queer at the age of twelve. Many people back then knew little about queer identities or were hardly interested in them. In the meantime, hate campaigns and state repression have changed everyday life. Atık reports increasing attacks and protests that are being met with massive police presence and arrests.

Is this primarily a problem with Islam? When asked what Atık says in response to people who portray Muslims as the sole threat to queers, he points to Germany: to right-wing mobilization against Pride events and the rise of the AfD. At the same time, there are solidarity connections between queer people and Muslim communities. Anyone who blames Muslims as a whole ignores both other perpetrators and possible allies.

Atık therefore does not want to draw a simple comparison between a repressive Türkiye and a free Germany. “As queer people, we have to stand up for each other everywhere.” Such comparisons often ignore what happens behind closed doors to working people in both countries.

For Atık, the social situation is at the center of the debate. "We see again and again that the most vulnerable queer people in Turkey are the ones who are attacked." Trans* employees are particularly made into scapegoats. This connection between queer identity and class relations cannot be ignored.

This connection is also clear in the opening speech. Trans* women are excluded from working life in Turkey and then attacked as immoral for their fight for their own existence. At the same time, the raids deprive those affected of support. An association whose work is prevented is also missing as a point of contact in the event of violence, financial difficulties or legal problems.

Those who gathered in front of the Turkish embassy are calling for visible protest. “We will not remain silent in the face of these attacks,” it says in the opening speech. “We will not leave any woman, trans* person or LGBTİ+ person alone.”

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