Kaos GL [News]

Symposium dates: 7-8 of May 2004, Istanbul, Turkey

Lambda Istanbul LGBT Civil Society Initiative and Istanbul Bilgi University work in cooperation on LGBT rights symposia in order to raise the awareness on the issue and to avoid discrimination against LGBT community in Turkey. Last year in May 2003 the first work has been accomplished with the symposium on Discrimination and Violence Against Homosexuals; which has been very successful and caught the attention of mass media. The cooperation between the activists and the academia was meaningful for exchanging experiences and for opening new platforms of interaction. Since the Turkish society is still prejudiced and poorly informed on LGBT issues traditional heterosexist and patriarchal way of thinking reigns on the interpretations of the subject.
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Review of KAOS GL Culture Center. 2004. Lezbiyen ve Geylerin Sorunlari ve Toplumsal Baris Icin Cozum Arayislari [The Problems of Gays and Lesbians and the Search for Social Peace]. Ankara: KAOS GL Publications, 158 pages.
by Sule Toktas
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Lambda Istanbul is an organization that was formed by a group of gays and lesbians right after the Istanbul city government banned the Christopher Street Day Sexual Liberation Activities that were to take place in July 1993. After this event, the group that used to gather under the name "Gokkusagi" (Rainbow) took the name Lambda Istanbul.

Lambda Istanbul is a group that works for liberation of LGBT people in Turkey. They have been arranging Sunday meetings for LGBTQ people who need to find each other to share their experiences, realize they are not alone.
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Below you may find March 2004 activities at Lambda Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
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Below you may find March 2004 Activities at Kaos GL Culture Center, Ankara, Turkey.
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Socialization Policies on Education and the Reflections on Gay and Lesbian Students
23 - 24 October 2004, Saturday - Sunday
Our second symposium’s main topic is “socialization policies on education and the reflections on gay and lesbian students”.
Education is defined as all the actions which the matured adults apply to the immature, growing individuals in order to prepare them to the rules of the society. The process in which they apply the actions is called socialization. This process is lived by the homosexual individuals as if they are heterosexuals.
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Most of the human rights movement organizations in Turkey don’t pay enough attention to the problems of homosexuals. Sadly, it is also almost impossible to see any reference in the reports of Turkish public organizations and NGO’s about opression against homosexuals in Turkey. Most people still don’t have a clear opinion about violence and discrimination against homosexuals. Current Turkish laws that ban discrimination doesn’t give any reference about the violence and discrimination against homosexuals.
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The draft Penal Code is currently under review at the Parliamentary Justice Commission. During its deliberations on January 29, 2004, the Commission decided to add “sexual orientation” to the “discrimination clause.” This clause will allow for the imposition of a 6-month to 1-year jail term for those who discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
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