During the Clinton administration, a compromise was found that allowed military authorities to turn a blind eye if soldiers kept quiet about their sexual orientation. Many politicians, including President Obama, no longer believe this somewhat hypocritical approach is appropriate, and they now want gay soldiers to be able to be more open about their lifestyle. Conservative Americans continue to oppose the change.In Turkey, homosexuality remains a very delicate issue. While the official political discourse widely condemns discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, religion or political views, sexual orientation is still a subject rarely addressed by politicians. Before the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) was revised in 2005, human rights activists pushed for the new anti-discrimination provisions to be extended to sexual orientation, but they failed.
Despite this setback, gay and lesbian rights organizations are now more visible, and an increasing number of Turkish people are open about their sexuality. But surveys of social perceptions suggest that the population at large remains uncomfortable with any behavior that does not fit accepted gender norms. A Pew Global Attitudes survey published in 2007 found that the ratio of Turks who believed that homosexuality as a way of life should be accepted by society had in fact decreased from 22 to 14 percent since 2002. The paradox, of course, is that camp artists like the late Zeki Müren or transsexual Bülent Ersoy are celebrated in this society.
Minister Selma Kavaf, who is in charge of family affairs, triggered a storm a few days ago when she told the Hürriyet daily that she viewed homosexuality as a biological dysfunction that needs to be treated. The minister even elicited condemnation from US politicians who deplored her statements.
The views she expressed, challenged by modern psychiatry, used to be common in most Western countries in the past. Gay people often faced criminal action as well as social persecution. In the 19th century, the Irish writer Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for “gross indecency” and died alone and destitute at the age of 46 after fleeing England.
Attitudes in Western countries have changed partly because modern science has a better understanding of human sexuality but also because social attitudes and the legal environment are geared largely more towards protecting individual rights and personal choices than imposing a single moral view on society.
In Turkey, homosexuality is still perceived as a dysfunction and banned in the military. In 2008, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published an extensive report on gay rights in Turkey, which made disturbing reading. Conscripts, it explained, faced a difficult choice: If they kept quiet about their sexual orientation and enlisted, they risked abuse at the hands of their fellow soldiers or their superiors if they were found out. If, on the other hand, they outed themselves and asked to be relieved from their military duties, they often had to undergo humiliating medical examinations or were even asked to provide photographic evidence of their homosexuality.
When society is ruled by narrow norms, particularly on gender roles, people perceived to be different face intolerance and often violence and harassment as well. Indeed, HRW suggested in its report that incidents were frequent and often went unpunished.
The issue here is not whether or not the government approves of homosexuality. At a time when the ruling party is talking of improving the democratic framework, showing its own tolerance for alternative lifestyles would help ensure that all citizens, irrespective of their background and indeed sexual orientation, can live in dignity and without fear of discrimination.
