As Initiative Against Homophobia we condemn the statement by President of Bar Association and Bar Council Hasan Sözmener’s on 21 October 2011. In the name of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) individuals, and all intellectual, democratic people sensitive about human rights, we are saddened by the statement.
We are concerned that an outdated 19th century law which is still implemented and effective in 21st century is being watched by the President of Bar Association and Bar Council. Considering the evolved and contemporary framework of human rights and the understanding of law, we believe it is unacceptable to advocate the Penal Code which has lost its currency and applicability.
The President of Bar Association and Bar Council stated that “Removing Article 171 of the Penal Code and legalizing homosexuality is risky for both moral values and human health, and is also a threat to tearing the society apart”. Besides Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals, intellectual, democratic people and organizations that are conscious about human rights will not keep silent to this statement. Hasan Sözmener went too far by defining gay people as “rotten” individuals that will spoil “good” people and claimed that legalizing homosexuality would lead to “the public imitating this minority group”. It is clear that invalid prejudices of Hasan Sözmener, who defined homosexuality as a disease, do not have any scientific validity.
In 1973, the American Psychiatry Association removed homosexuality from DSM, clearly stating that homosexuality is an orientation rather than a preference; is not a personality disorder and is not changeable. APA called all psychologists to fight against the inaccurate judgments about homosexuality. In 1974, all questions/items regarding homosexuality were removed from all tests used to diagnose disorders by European and American Psychological Institutions. Homosexuality was removed from the classification of diseases and disorders by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1990. The code ICD-10 states “by itself, sexual orientation is not considered as a disease/disorder”. It is known that individuals psychosocial development is completed between the ages of 3 and 6, and after this process sexual orientation can’t be changed. Additionally, recent studies have shown that genetic or biological components also have a determining impact on sexual orientation.
However, homophobia (fear of homosexuals) is a pathological disorder that can be cured. Homophobic people are inclined to discriminate, degrade and inflict psychological and physical violence towards homosexuals. This disposition is caused by their own internal fears. It is known that most homophobic people are male; this is due to them perceiving homosexuality as a threat to the male roles within the societal structure which positions masculinity as dominant and powerful. The approach of these individuals’ shows similarity to those of fascists; the personalities, education and other characteristics of an individual are ignored and the person’s homosexuality is the justification for being degraded and being subjected to all forms of violence. The public should be educated about homophobic and homophobic people should be treated.
Contrary to Hasan Sözmener’s statement, instead of homosexuality the modern world considers homophobia (fear of homosexuals) as a disease or as socially unacceptable.
Another claim of Hasan Sözmener which shocked us is “issues accepted by the general public are considered as illegal and issues unacceptable for the majority are considered as a crime”. It is clear that Hasan Sözmener is not aware that Europe and all modern states around the world have not only decriminalized homosexuality by considering gay rights as part of fundamental human rights, but have also criminalized discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. With his words Hasan Sözmener ignores “minority” rights and has paid no attention to the fact that the main goal of laws is to ensure that all individual live harmoniously with equal rights. Similarly to women, children and disabled individuals, LGBT people have also been ignored, discriminated and alienated from the society for years. Legal and social change have occurred with years of work by intellectuals on informing the public and creating a civilized platform for discussions.
We condemn statements of the President of Bar Association and Bar Council, who should have the most modern ideas on the public’s rights and should be a leader in fighting for “minority” rights. We would like to believe that these statements reflect the personal ideas of Hasan Sözmener or a small fraction of the bar. We are aware that many of our lawyer friends are modern and respectful to minority and human rights; and we invite all individuals and organizations to support us on our cause.