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Demet Demir, winner of the International Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Commission 1997 Felipa de Souza Award.

Demet was born in 1961, in Yalova, Turkey. She became politically active in 1979 and shortly after Labour day, 1980, she was arrested and held for ten days. Following the 1980 military coup she was sentenced to 15 months in jail, and released after 8 months.

In the 1980s, conditions were not what they had been in the ‘70s; old friends in Left organizations began to ostracize her because of her sexual orientation. She had started to explore and assert her gender identity differences, and this soon became a serious issue; she began losing jobs because of it. She became full time in 1985 and finally had gender reassignment surgery in 1995, and as is the general rule in Turkey, was therefore unable to earn her living in any way other than through prostitution.

In 1988 Demet made contact with a newly organizing gay liberation group, operating under the name, "Radical Democratic Green Party". Through this group she became acquainted with the idea of homosexual rights, and took the opportunity to apply her political background and skills to various tasks undertaken by this organization. She wrote articles for the organization’s bulletin, ‘Greenpeace’.

Demet became a member of the (Turkish) Human Rights Organization in 1989. She established the first sexual minorities commission within HRO, but was unable to pursue her cause for lack of interest and support from the Organization at large. She was responsible for printing up and distributing the first pink triangle badges in Turkey, and participated in the feminist movement and its organization, issuing a report for the first women’s congress in Turkey, and has also worked in organization fighting Aids-related illness. She took part in the campaign against article 159, which prevented married women working without their husbands’ consent, and article 438, which decreases the punishment by one third in cases where the female victim is a prostitute. These articles were finally changed following protest campaigns by NGOs.

In 1989, Demet traveled to Ankara as a journalist for the bulletin, "Greenpeace" to observe a court trial. There her ID, which depicted her as a male, differed from her female appearance. She was questioned four times, tortured and beaten. Her purpose was questioned even after she presented a press card and she was told that as she was a gay she had no reason for her presence there.

In 1991, Demet was taken from her home to a police station, and was tortured. She was beaten again after requesting contact with her solicitor. At one point she was even allowed to see him, but was then transferred to another police station where her whereabouts would be unknown. In addition to beatings and other forms of torture.

Two days after an interview with Demet concerning this harassment was published in a weekly magazine, she was once again arrested. In the interview, Demet had mentioned that homosexuality was not defined as illegal in the 1924 Constitution written by Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic; as a result she was accused of insulting Atatürk. She was forced to sign false statements following beatings, and was once again moved from one police station to another. She took a doctor’s report to prove that she was tortured to court and was acquitted, but a higher court overturned the previous judgement, and she was sentenced to 2 months imprisonment without even being allowed to take an action about the torture. This case was documented in Amnesty International’s "Turkey 1992" report. Demet applied for 50 million Turkish Lira (about $7,000) compensation, but was blocked in this action by special laws. In Turkey, few victims of police abuse are able to win any sort of compensation.

Demet Demir after being release from prison, with her father and nephew

Demet Demir is quite well known for her activism, thanks to newspaper and television reports. She continues to maintain a leadership role in her struggle against the harassment and intimidation against the TG community in Istanbul.

Links

Lambda Istanbul web site

Contains material covering Turkish state repression of LGBT community.

Demet Demir's page 1| media index