Turkey's LGBTQ Community Dread Future Under Erdogan

Of course Erdogan has been around for years, but he recently decided to "get tough" before an election.

Turkey's LGBTQ Community Dread Future Under Erdogan
https://www.ibtimes.com/turkeys-lgbtq-community-dread-future-under-erdogan-3696289

Turkey's LGBTQ community fear being exposed to more homophobic hate after conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made them into his favourite target for his bitterly divisive re-election campaign.

The Islamic-rooted leader constantly railed against LGBTQ people on the campaign trail, accusing them of threatening traditional family values and calling them "perverse".

He also attacked opposition challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu for pledging to "respect everyone's beliefs, lifestyles and identities", including those of the LGBTQ community.

After extending his two-decade rule until 2028 in Sunday's historic run-off election, Erdogan used the opportunity to target them again when he greeted supporters in Istanbul.

"Is the CHP LGBT? Is the HDP LGBT?" he asked, referring to Kilicdaroglu's secular party and the main pro-Kurdish group that supported the opposition alliance.

"Yes!" the crowd roared in reply.

Erdogan continued the pantomime by asking his rapturous supporters whether his ruling AKP party was LGBTQ-friendly.

"No!" was the unanimous rejoinder.

Ilker Erdogan, a 20-year-old university student and LGBTQ activist, has known no leader other than Erdogan and AKP-led governments.

"From the moment I was born, I felt that discrimination, homophobia and hatred in my bones," he told AFP before Sunday's vote.

"I feel deeply afraid. Feeling so afraid is affecting my psychology terribly. I couldn't breathe before, and now they will try to strangle my throat," he added.

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