Anti-LGBT Rhetoric: Turkish opposition MP accuses Erdogan of using hate speech for political gains

Despite police blockades and amid an increase in anti-LGBT rhetoric from the Turkish government, hundreds of people marched in the capital Istanbul on Sunday in a defiant Pride parade. But dozens got detained as well.

After officers limited access to their regular route near the city’s Taksim Square – the site of anti-government demonstrations in 2013 – and nearby areas, the marchers were seen parading in the liberal central neighborhood of Nisantasi.

The marchers walked down the streets, carrying rainbow signs and demanding increased rights. While activists unfurled a large flag off the side of a parking garage during the day, towards the evening, a flag was hung from one of Istanbul’s popular landmarks – the Galata Tower.

Hate Speech A Pretty Powerful Tool

On Monday, the parade organizers said some of the detainees were starting to get released. Meanwhile, opposition MP Gokce Gokcen from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the government was using hate speech against the LGBT community to grab political gains.

“Populist leaders prefer creating fake enemies or terrorists in order to hide real problems and use people’s hate and fear,” Gokcen wrote to The Media Line, stressing hate speech was a pretty powerful tool during the recent election campaign.

While campaigning for the presidential and parliamentary elections last month, the Turkish leader and his allies used anti-LGBT rhetoric, accusing the sexual minority population of being against family values. Erdogan was re-elected and his coalition maintained a majority.

Pride Parades Were Once Legal

The organizers said the community was gradually getting pushed out of public spaces. They called on the marchers to avoid walking alone because of safety concerns and to carry a power bank and their identity cards with them.

Pride parades were once legal in the capital. But things started changing in 2015 when the city’s governor banned them. On Sunday evening, the governor – who is connected to the national government – said Istanbul’s future depended on protecting the family as an institution.

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Erdogan’s then-interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, claimed if the politician lost, the opposition would legalize same-sex marriage. Baran Elma from the Association of Lawyers for Freedom in Istanbul said anti-LGBT comments from politicians increased to lure in right-wing voters.

A 2020 study by Istanbul’s Kadir Has University found while 77% of respondents said same-sex relationships were in opposition to social norms, 45% backed equal rights for bisexual, gay as well as transsexual individuals.