17 March 2010 / ÖZLEM ALBAYRAK YENİ ŞAFAK,
As you know, Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf said that “homosexuality is a disorder that needs to be treated” and caused an immediate uproar. Most likely in an attempt to neutralize the adverse effects of Kavaf’s statement, Health Minister Recep Akdağ intervened and said: “Living as a homosexual is difficult in Turkey.
It can cause discrimination. Society must be more tolerant.” But nothing has changed. This statement did not satisfy anyone, and even though a week has passed, the uproar remains. In democracies, people have the right to express that they do not like certain actions and activities without targeting individuals. In other words, a religious person has the right to say “homosexuality is an orientation that I cannot approve of according to my beliefs; it is against nature,” just as another person has the right to express the fact that he does not approve of the headscarf and sees it as a restriction of a woman’s freedom. That is, it’s OK as long as it does not mean restricting the activity disapproved of because at that point in a democracy, attitudes can and should change.
