A unique play in an Ankara theater ended with a standing ovation this week as the little-known actors - transsexuals and homosexuals raising their voices against discrimination - fought back tears on stage.
Their play, Pink And Grey, shines a spotlight on the plight of transsexuals in mainly Muslim Turkey, in the latest initiative of a fledgling, but increasingly vocal movement for rights by a community long ostracized and often harassed.
Beaming with pride and excitement, the amateur stars, male-to-female transsexuals Derya Tunc and Sera Can, received congratulations in the boisterous backstage, taking a welcome respite from their jobs as sex workers.
PHOTO: AFP
"Despite all the discrimination we face, I have no regrets for what I am," Can said. "My only regret is having ended up in the prostitution sector."
Almost all transsexuals and transvestites in Turkey make their living as prostitutes. They say they have no other option in a society where homophobia is strong and often accompanied by violence.
Three-quarters of Turks say they are "disturbed" by homosexuals, a recent opinion survey showed, although many homosexuals today are recognized as being among the country's most prominent singers and fashion designers.
Notoriously harsh against transsexual prostitutes, police have been accused of arbitrary round-ups, mistreatment, torture and rough "clean-up" operations in several Istanbul neighborhoods popular with transsexuals.
Activists say police abuse declined in recent years as the homosexual and transgender movement became organized and Turkey's bid to join the European Union made human rights a priority.
"Before, the police used violence - now they only fine us," said Buse Kilickaya, the head of Pembe Hayat, or Pink Life, a newly founded association that advocates transgender rights and sponsored Pink and Grey.
She pointed to the ongoing trial of four people over an assault on transvestite and transsexual prostitutes in Ankara's Eryaman suburb in 2006, which left several seriously injured.
The victims were attacked by young men wielding sticks and knives who were allegedly encouraged by local authorities and property developers; the victims' flats were ransacked and they were eventually forced to flee the neighborhood.
Attorney Senem Doganoglu, a supporter of Pink Life, said transvestites and transsexuals continue to be arbitrarily detained and could end up in a police station simply for showing up in the street.
"I had a case in which one was detained when she went out in the evening to buy bread," Doganoglu said.
Prostitution is not a crime in Turkey, so the police use a law that provides for fines for disturbing public order to pursue transsexual sex workers, she said.
She said the advocacy of conservative values by the governing Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) "is fostering the existing climate of intolerance."
Islam's impact on sexual freedoms, however, has proven to be a tricky issue in secular Turkey, where same-sex relationships and sex change operations are allowed, unlike in many other Muslim countries, and homosexual traditions can be traced back to the palaces of Ottoman sultans.
One of Turkey's best-known homosexual people, prominent fashion designer Cemil Ipekci, made headlines this month as he praised the AKP, described himself as a "conservative homosexual" and said he would have worn the Islamic headscarf had he been a woman.
And a transgender association in Ankara has called for a special mosque where its members can pray without disturbing the conventional Muslim flock.
"They cannot deny us the right to pray for salvation, can they?" asked group leader Oksan Oztok.
Activists hope discrimination will decrease as they become better organized and more vocal.
"We know things cannot change overnight. But there is progress already and we will continue to fight," Kilickaya said as she and her fellows excitedly discussed the date of the next Pink and Grey performance.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,