Turkey: Editor of gay magazine to stand trial

December 27, 2006

Turkey: Editor of gay magazine to stand trial

But instead of recognizing the jihad threat, homosexual activists in the West are concentrating on a threat they think is much more serious: that of the "Christian Right," despite the fact that none of their favorite bogeymen -- Falwell, Robertson, Dobson -- have ever called for their imprisonment. And of course, this is Turkey: Sharia supremacists elsewhere have done much worse.

From AKI, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

Istanbul, 27 Dec. (AKI) - Umut Guner, the editor in chief of Turkey's first and only lesbian and gay magazine, Kaos-GL, will be tried Thursday in the Turkish capital Ankara. Guner is charged with violating morality laws in a special edition of the magazine on pornography published in July. The prosecution seeks up to three years in prison for Guner, who is also the owner of the publication representing the Ankara-based Kaos Gay-Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos-GL).

In July, a judge in Ankara ordered the confiscation of the Kaos-GL's edition, following the prosecution's immorality charges. Kaos-LG was notified of the decision on 24 July, when Turkey celebrates 'Press Freedom Day' and also the 98th anniversary of the official end of censorship. Later in August, the court in Ankara rejected an appeal against the confiscation order.

“It is obvious that the Kaos-GL journal has nothing to do with those dozens of ‘erotic' or ‘pornographic' journals being published in our country," said the magazine in a statement on Tuesday. "As the Kaos-GL, since the beginning in 1994, we have been struggling against associating homosexuality solely with sexuality and sexuality solely with pornography," the statement continued.

"It's clear that concepts such as ‘naughty,' ‘obscene' and ‘public morality' seek to destroy the freedom of expression of Turkey's gays and lesbians.' Our right to speak, which should be contained within freedom of expression, is at the same time our fight for homosexual existence," the statement added.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/2006/12/014578print.html
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