From homophobia to a moving apology in Turkey
As a groundbreaking film launches, Turkish attitudes to gay and transgender people are slowly improving – in the media at least
Elif Shafak
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 January 2012 08.36 EST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/18/homophobia-turkey-moving-apologyLast week was tumultuous for Turkey's gay and transsexual people. A groundbreaking indie movie, Zenne Dancer, finally hit the screens, after winning five major awards at the country's foremost film festival, and receiving a shower of attention from the mass media – a shower that unfortunately quickly turned cold.
In daily parlance the word zenne refers to a man who dresses up like a woman and dances in front of an audience, a custom that goes way back to early Ottoman empire. The film itself is inspired by a true story, that of Ahmet Yildiz, a student who was gunned down by his own father for being openly and unrepentantly homosexual. His was not the first hate crime in Turkey, nor the first gay honour killing, but probably the first to draw such widespread attention. The film and the subsequent media coverage played an important role in increasing awareness about the hardships transgender and gay communities endure in Turkey's patriarchal society.
