KILLING HAS A PRIZE WHILE LOVING IS A CRIME

‘’ They gave me a medal for killing two men and

a discharge for loving one’’ writes on the grave of

Leonard P. Matlovich, a technical sergeant in the USA army.

Homosexuality was normal in ancient civilizations but after Old

Testament they were arrested, sentenced to death for hundred

years. Last decades with the humanist approach there are some

studies for homosexuals. Now we can see their struggles,

lifestyles in documentaries, movies and series. Even though

they live in different regions, different cultures they have

some common problems. I will try to explain what Christianity

and Islam says about homosexuality and the problems of

homosexuals in Iran, Turkey, USA and the Netherlands.

Homosexuality in Christianity

From the first known religion Zoroastrianism, all

monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam ban sexual

affiliate between same sexes.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit

the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators

nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor

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homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor

revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1CO

6:9-10 ESV) As we see homosexuality is not a single topic in

the bible. There is a list which can be called as immorality

cluster that does not let people inherit the kingdom of God.

In Old Testament sexual attraction and desire of same

sex described as something that God hates and cursed. Story of

Sodom and Gomorrah (where the tribe of Lute lived) is the

example of God’s punishment of homosexuality. God sends two

angels as handsome men to investigate the accusations. If

there are fifty men who are not homosexual, God will forgive

and does not destroy the city. Prophet Lute welcomes the

angels; take them to his home and when the citizens of Sodom

learn about the guests they want to have sex with the guests.

Despite Lute offers his two virgin daughters as a spouse to

citizens of Sodom, they do not accept this offer. Lute takes

his family and leaves the city while God makes citizens blind

and destroys the city. The story shows homosexuality is not a

disease which comes with the birth. (Oksaçan, 2012)

Destruction of the city shows the homosexuality gained a

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social character which is an obstacle for reproductive of

human kind and this is a rebellion of God’s will.

Homosexuality in Islam

Like in Old Testament, Quran also says homosexuality

started with Lute Tribe. According to Quran homosexuality is a

gross sin which must be removed by Islamic states. There was no

example at Prophet Mohammed’s time so we don’t know what type

of punishment he would give but Caliph Ali’s and Abu Bekir say

these sinners must be killed with a sword, not bury and the

corpse must be burnt, Caliph Ömer and Osman say these sinners

must be put in a decrepit building and the building must be

collapsed upon the sinners. Ibn Abbas believes the sinners must

cast away the highest building. Even though Quran says

homosexuality is a great sin like Tevrad and Bible, there are

not an absolute way how to punish it.

When Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan said homosexuality

does not come with birth, it’s a choice and who chooses this

will not go to heaven in 2009, started a discussion can

homosexuals go to heaven?

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The former head of religious affairs Süleyman Ateş says:

“Homosexuality is a great sin but God is merciful, forgives all

sins….If a homosexual forswears nobody can say he/she cannot be

forgiven.’’ While theologian Ismail Nacar believes

homosexuality comes with birth, theologian author Ihsan Eliaçık

is not sure if someone who is not androgynous, loving the same

sex person comes with birth.

Does homosexuality come with birth or is it a disease or

is it a choice this is a question no one can answer properly.

It is debatable in Islam but there is something which is not

debatable in Islam is if homosexuals go to heaven. Because in

Quran there is not a definite order which says homosexuals

cannot go to heaven and only God knows who will go to heaven.

Monotheistic religions have the same attitude to

homosexuality as a great sin if there is an act upon it but

homosexual desires are not in themselves sinful. God loves all

of his creatures but hates the sinners.

Being Homosexual

Humans are not the only kind who is homosexual.

Homosexuality is seen also in zebras, sheep, mice, foxes,

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gorillas, dolphins, buffalos, elephants, cats, pigs, lions etc.

According to scientific researches homosexuality between men is

more common than homosexuality between women. A research in

university students in Carolina shows 6 % of men and 3% of

women are homosexual. (Oksaçan, 2012) Although it is debatable

if homosexuality is genetic, a disease or a choice studies show

genes, hormones and birth order are important factors to

determine homosexuality. If one of the identical twins is a gay

the possibility of other twin to be gay is 70%. Increased the

number of older brothers, increases the possibility of being

gay because pregnant women’s body identify male fetus as an

foreign object and excrete antigens, antibodies against the

fetus, the more boys women have the more body excrete antigens

and antibodies which feminizes the fetus.(For the Bible Tells

Me So, 2007)

Modern scientific consensus like The American Medical

Association, The American Psychiatric Association, The American

Psychological Association, The American Psychoanalytic

Association, The Academia of Pediatrics and The National

Association of Social Workers say homosexuality should not be

treated as a mental disorder homosexuality is not a choice and

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it cannot be changed but what about countries, societies? I

will explain being homosexual in Iran, Turkey, USA and the

Netherlands.

In IRAN

When 24 September 2007 Iran President Ahmedinejad said

“There is no homosexuals in Iran‘’ at Columbia University,

Iranians were shocked but not surprised. Homosexuality in Iran

is a topic which a few scholars have addressed. This does not

mean there is not homosexuality in Iran because there is. By

the 1970s Iran had small and active gay subculture. With

Islamic Revolution in 1979 like the music of west and alcohol,

openly living gay lifestyle was banned. The third chapter of

the Penal Code of the Islamic Republic dealt specifically with

sodomy and homosexual relations. Punishment can be lifetime

imprison or execution according to the density of crime. Iran

gives death penalty to homosexuality like other six Islamic

countries; Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland

and Yemen.

While homosexuality is counted as a crime, transsexuality

is something which nature is blamed for. Ayatollah Khomeini

issued a fatwa (religious ruling) which makes sex change

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operations legal. According to Foreign Policy Magazine

(May/June) reports since 2008 Iran has the second highest

number of sex change operations after Thailand. The numbers are

high not just because there are many transsexuals in Iran it is

because homosexuals also do the surgery due to the fear of

imprisonment or death. They have every right to be afraid

because since 1979 4000 homosexuals have been killed.

Although there were laws in the books, they were not

always practiced in the 1990s. With the election of

Ahmedinejad, the campaign against homosexuals got harsher. A

few weeks before Ahmedinejad entered his presidency office on

16 July 2005, two teenagers Mahmoud Asgari, sixteen years old,

and Ayaz Marhoni, eighteen years old, were convicted of sodomy

and executed by hanging at a public square in the city of

Mashhad. These executions were a warning of the ruling type of

the new president.

A gay community, with the traditional meaning, in Iran is

not possible because it is illegal. There are small groups of

individuals who can socialize with their friends in homes. Last

decades, several documentaries produced by Iranians about

Iran’s homosexuals and transsexuals. Cul De Sac is one of these

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documentaries and it is about the documentary’s maker Kiana

Firouz who is Iranian homosexual and left her country in 2008

because of the conditions of homosexuals in Iran. If she goes

back she will be lashed 300 times. Her first application to

became refugee in UK has rejected and if she gets deported from

the UK, the death styles like being hanged, stoned, halved by a

sword or dropped from highest building will be her choice.

Because of her international support she gained the refugee

status rather than a humanitarian protection.

Other documentary is Be Like Others by Tanaz Eshaghian. Its

focus is on sex change operations. Imam Khomeini says Quran

does not specifically tell sex change operations are sin if

this can count as sin turning wheat into flour then turning it

to bread must be sin because it is also changing God’s natural

order. (Be Like Others, 2008) We can see in the documentary a

father tries to kill his own son because he wants this

operation or a family supports their children unwillingly

because the fear of losing them but sometimes the support of

families also is not enough because 33% of people who changed

their sex committed suicide.(Be Like Others, 2008) Some of the

homosexuals marry, have children and live their gay lifestyle

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secretly, some of them like Ali feels had no identity so does

the operation, he could not work before the operation because

of the fear of harassment, fear of teases but after the

operation Ali cannot work because now he is a she and Ali says

if he lived other place than Iran he would not do the surgery.

To live a better life some Iranian gays escape to Turkey. Well

Is Turkey much better?

In TURKEY

While gay Iranians escape to Turkey, gay Turks prefer to

go to the Netherlands. There had been 104 asylum applications

to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands from Turkish citizens

between January 1999 and April 2001 because of homosexuality.

Just two applications had rejected from these applications and

13 cases have continued. (Milliyet, 2009) According to Serkan

Zihli’s research there are 372 homosexuals in the different

provincial of Turkey and 21% of homosexuals have married to

opposite sex. (Milliyet, 2009)

Homosexuality in Turkey started to crystallize in 1980s.

Gays and lesbians started to establish their groups. KAOS GL a

magazine which aims to announce the voice of homosexual

people’s published in 1994 for the first time. Because of the

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studies for integration to European Union between 1999 and 2005

homosexuals found themselves such a democratic atmosphere but

with 2006 a harsh flashback started. The places which are known

as gay places were started to shut down and since 2007 the

claims of police violence to homosexuals increased.

In 2008 Turkey met the first gay decency murder, Ahmet

Yıldız. He was kept a hail of bullets in front of his house on

15 July 2008. Nine months before his murder, Ahmet had

complaint his parents to the Uskudar Prosecutor because of the

murder threats. Ibrahim C. , German citizen of Turkish descent,

Ahmet’s boyfriend gave the laptop, cell phone and the keys of

Ahmet’s house to the police and wanted to take the body which

was waiting in the mortuary but could not take because they did

not have a legal bound. For the illumination of the murder,

friends of Ahmet and boyfriend Ibrahim C. worked hard. 16

deputies in the German Parliament wanted German Government to

pressure to Turkish Government for illuminating the murder.

Amnesty International has also got involved. German and English

newspapers mentioned the murder of Ahmet. A movie, Zenne Dancer,

which was based on the life of Ahmet Yıldız, was released in

2011. Catching order of defendant father was removed in the

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previous hearings then the order was given again. By the time

27 May 2013 still there was no verdict in the court and the

trial postponed to 13 September 2013 for the thirteen times.

After the violence gays faced in Turkey, the biggest

problem for them is military service because every man who is

18 has to go to the army for 15 months. Men can be exempt from

military service if they are ill, disabled or homosexual but

proving homosexuality is very humiliating process. Emre

Azizerli made a radio documentary called The Pink Certificate about

the subject and it was broadcasted on BBC World Service on 26

March 2011. Azizerli interviewed a few gays about how they got

their certificates. Gays go to military hospital to get their

certificate to be excluded from the military service but it is

not easy. They have to be examined and answering some questions

if they like football, wear women’s clothes or perfume and

sometimes they are asked to bring some photos (it’s always

denied by military) and in the photos they must be passive

part if they are active they do the military service and get

harsh punishments. Even if they get the certificate their life

will not be normal because for every job interview certificate

which shows men made the military service wants to be seen.

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Psychosomatic Disorder (homosexuality) is written in the

certificate which makes people find a job harder. While with

the Draft Law on the Turkish Armed Forces Discipline which was

prepared by the Ministry of National Defense makes homosexual

relations a reason for discharging, if there is a war gays are

obligated to go to the military service. Günal Kurşun, the

President of Human Rights Agenda, defines this as a

hypocritical attitude and says this is also against the

principle of equality. (Habertürk, 2013) Another desperate

claim which was denied by the Turkish Armed Forces was the

report from German weekly Der Spiegel saying TAF had “the

world’s greatest porno archive” because of its policy of asking

for proof of sexual orientation.

First person in Turkey who had to have confessed that he

is gay is a football referee Halil Ibrahim Dinçdağ. After he

got his certificate in February 2009, board of referees did not

let him to do his job and they did not let him to take the exam

for being a professional referee. He applied the Football

Federation but did not get the answer he wanted and federation

leaked his name to the press. He came out, started a war

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against federation and sued them. Halil Ibrahim Dinçdağ said:

“Half of my friends are lost. I cannot find a job; my parents

are taking care of me. I feel naked… People are afraid to be

seen with me. I’m hopeless.” (Tempoonline) A match was

organized to support Halil Ibrahim Dinçdağ on 15 March 2013 in

Ankara. Homosexuals from fifteen countries such as USA,

Germany, Palestine, Lebanon, Greece, Croatia, Serbia,

Azerbaijan, Egypt, Macedonia, Armenia, Tunisia, Algeria,

Albania and Georgia played football. There were slogans like

fag referee, lesbian forward also a banner which was saying red

card for homophobia could be seen. He has the support of

Germany Embassy and the fan groups of Bayern Munich, FC Schalke

04, St. Pauli and seventeen groups from Turkey. Ankara

Ambassador Press and Political Undersecretary of Germany Peter

Kettner said: “An important game for Germany Embassy. Quality

is not that good but the support is important for us. Human

Rights are taken so seriously in Germany that’s why I was

here.” (Radikal, 2013) In eighth hearing, on 21 May 2013, in

the case of Dinçdağ, the expert said the sexual orientation is

not an obstacle for him doing his job and it was decided to ask

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TFF for the calculation of financial compensation. Next hearing

will be on 10 October 2013.

In the interview Halil Ibrahim Dinçdağ said he loves

children and his dream is to have a son but for now it is just

a fantasy because homosexuality is still a taboo in Turkey.

Maybe Turkey does not have stiff laws on homosexuality like

Iran has but gays do not have recognition. Within the framework

of new constitution, Republican People's Party gave a research

proposal about the problems of gay people Peace and Democracy

Party supported the proposal but the Justice and Development

Party’s deputy Ibrahim Korkmaz left the General Assembly saying

“what you say is immoral and you’re defending immorality.”

(Habertürk, 2013) With the votes of government party the

proposal was rejected. The last decade was the time of

government party, their Islamic views and their lifestyle are

imposed to Turkish people so we cannot talk about rights of

homosexuals like many other things, at least for now.

In USA

Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, or Mitt Romney can think

homosexuals do not belong to American culture, but they are

wrong. Like the Greeks acceptance and appreciation for same sex

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relationships, before Europeans arrived to America, America was

a safer place for gay people than it was ever going to be again

for several centuries. Homosexual relationships have been

documented among the Aztec, Maya and others.

In the late 19th and the early 20th centuries for the first

time in America there were communities of like-minded

homosexuals. New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco were

among the earliest cities to have significant gay populations.

In 1924, the first gay organization, the Society for Human

Rights in Chicago, was established. The first gay political

group, Mattachine Society, founded in Los Angeles by Harry Hay

twenty five years after the organization in Chicago. By 1955,

1200 men and women lost their job because President Dwight

Eisenhower made being a homosexual an excuse for firing people.

By 1973, The American Psychiatric Association declared that

homosexuality is not a mental disease.

Harvey Milk is a hero for American gays. He had his first

electoral defeat for the Board of Supervisor of San Francisco

in 1973. Though 1976 he was defeated three times, but he

managed to continuously increase his votes. In 1977, with “the

District Elections” plan, which allowed people to run for their

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districts, Milk was elected as one of the supervisors working

with Mayor George Moscone. At the age of 47, Milk was in the

Board of Supervisor as a first gay supervisor of San Fransisco.

Harvey Milk knew he must embrace all people like whites,

blacks, women, disables not just gays and he embraced all

minorities. He limited high rise development, gave importance

to rights of senior citizens, rights of the handicapped. He

made laws to make people clean up their dog’s waste. When he

tried to establish the Gay Rights Bill, Dan White, another

supervisor, said no and Senator John Briggs started a campaign

for proposition 6 to fire homosexual teachers in public school

saying: “We are giving a right to parents to decide their

children’s teacher.” (The Times of Harvey Milk, 1984) With

President Carter’s support, proposition 6 was defeated by 59%

to 41%. Dan White first resigned then wanted his job back, when

he did not get it back, on 27 November 1978 he killed Mayor

George Moscone and Harvey Milk. He got five years imprisonment

and people thought if the murderer was gay or black, he would

never have gotten away with only five years.

Gay and lesbian people are 3 to 7 times more likely to

attempt suicide (For the Bible Tells Me So, 2007) Parents and

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society must understand and not be judgmental says Mary Lou

Wallner who wrote a letter to her lesbian daughter saying:

Undoubedly, the most difficult part of your letter

was the gay thing. I will NEVER accept that in you. I

fell it’s a terrible waste, besides being spiritually

and morally wrong. For a reason I don’t quite fathom,

I have a harder time dealing with that issue than

almost anything in the world. I do and will continue

to love YOU, but I will always hate that, and I will

pray every day that you will change your mind and

attitude. (For the Bible tells Me So, 2008)

They never worked out the issue between them and on February

28, 1997 Mary got a phone call which said her daughter had been

found hanging from the bar in her closet. She hanged for about

15 hours before anyone found her.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Pursue is a policy which is

known DADT. The part of don’t pursue is not much know because

when President Clinton announced the policy on 19 July 1993 he

did not mention about it. In his presidential campaign Clinton

made the promise of lifting the ban on homosexuals in the

Department of Defense (DOD). He had compromised which ended up

with the DADT policy. The policy started with Clinton and

continued through the Bush Presidency. At the 2000 New17

Hampshire presidential primary debate Bush said “I am a don’t

ask don’t tell man” (Singer, 2008).

When Obama came to power, hiding homosexuality in the

military started to change. The following graph shows

constituents’ feelings on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell as well as the

votes for the DADT repeal act of 2010 in the House:

(purpleunions.com, 2013)

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Obama signed don’t ask don’t tell repeal act of 2010 on 22

December 2010 and said:

“For we are not a nation that says, “don’t ask, don’t

tell.” We are a nation that says, “Out of many, we

are one.”  We are a nation that welcomes the service

of every patriot.  We are a nation that believes that

all men and women are created equal. Those are the

ideals that generations have fought for.  Those are

the ideals that we uphold today.  And now, it is my

honor to sign this bill into law.” (whitehouse.gov)

21 September 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was

enacted by Clinton. With his signature, federal law now defined

marriage as the union between a man and a woman and banned

same-sex marriages. Clinton addressed the Human Rights Campaign

and nominated James Hormel as the first openly gay ambassador

in his second term but he did not back off the DOMA. In March

2013, Clinton admitted that he violated the constitution with

the DOMA act but he was too little too late because the idea

was adopted by the majority of states. By 2013, many states had

different opinions about same sex couples:

State law and/or constitutional provision limits marriageto relationships between a man and a woman (30 states withconstitutional provisions and a further seven states with

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statutory provisions):Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California*, Colorado,Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi,Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, NorthDakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, SouthCarolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia,West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

* California voters adopted a constitutional provisionlimiting marriage to relationships between a man and awoman in November 2008. This provision was challenged infederal court and ruled unconstitutional. Enforcement ofthis decision has been delayed pending a U.S. SupremeCourt decision on the case. Supreme Court hearings arescheduled for March 2013 and a decision is expected byJune 2013.

State issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples (12states and D.C.):Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Maryland,Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, RhodeIsland, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia

* Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota passed same-sexmarriage legislation in 2013. Rhode Island and Minnesota'slaws takes effect on Aug. 1 and Delaware’s takes effect onJuly 1.

States allows civil unions, providing state-level spousalrights to same-sex couples (Six states):Colorado, Delaware*, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, RhodeIsland.*

* Civil unions will no longer be available in Delaware onJuly or Rhode Island on Aug. 1, when the states’ same-sexmarriage laws take effect.

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Three of these states—Colorado, Hawaii and Illinois—alsohave statutes or constitutional provisions limitingmarriage to relationships between a man and a woman.

Note:  In Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont, same-sex marriage hasreplaced civil unions.

State grants nearly all state-level spousal rights tounmarried couples (domestic partnerships)* (Four states):California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington****Effective June 30, 2014, domestic partnerships inWashington will be limited to couples who are 62 years ofage or older.

State provides some state-level spousal rights tounmarried couples (domestic partnerships)*:Hawaii, Maine, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia(ncsl.org)

The map shows which state has legal ban, constitutional

ban, let civil unions, and gay marriage or pending

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(huffingtonpost.com,2013)

National polls indicate that a majority of American people

(54%) support marriage equality according to a June 2012 CNN

poll. (Murphy, 2012)

In the NETHARLANDS

When we talk about homosexuality in the world we must

mention the Netherlands because the Netherlands was the first

country to introduce gay marriage, slowly but surely on 1 April

2001.

A demand of same sex marriage appeared after the rewriting

of Dutch constitution which banned discrimination in 1983. This

ban is not about just homosexual, it banned all kinds of

discrimination. The Dutch Supreme Court rejected the demands of

3 homosexual couples who wanted to get marry. However, the

Court’s obiter dictum told lawmakers can work on the issue.

With studies, in 1994 a civil partnership bill was introduced

to the lawmaking process. The bill was voted in 1998 and

applied to both of homosexuals and heterosexuals. Adoption was

opened to single and non-married individuals regardless their22

sexual orientation. Kees Waaldijk, a law professor at the

University of Leiden, also a member of advisory commission

which worked on opening up civil marriage to persons of same

sex and reported to the government in 1997 wrote:

“By 1998, a very great proportion of the

(traditionally marriage-related) special rights of

heterosexual couples had also become available to

same-sex couples. However, this did not silence the

call for the opening up of marriage, on the contrary,

the social and political pressure increased.”

(Euronews.com, 2013)

On 8 July 1998, same sex marriage bill was brought the before

of the Dutch congress, in 2000 lower chamber voted the bill 109

in favor, 33 in against. On 19 December 2000, the Higher

Chamber voted yes and Queen Beatrix approved on December 21.

This way same sex marriage legalized came into force on 1 April

2001. Four gay couples tied the knot that night and 382

followed the same month.

Today having same sex spouse is normal in the Netherlands.

Between April 1, 2001 and January 1, 2011, there were 15,000

same sex couples which are legally married. An article on the

Radio Netherlands says 20% of the 55,000 gay couples in the

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Netherlands are married while there have been 761,000

heterosexual marriage in the same period. Also between April 1,

2001 and January 1, 2011 there have been 1,078 gay divorces

while there have been 323,549 divorces among straight couples

in the same period. (euronews.com, 2013)

Like heterosexual couples some homosexual couples want to

have children but commercial surrogacy is banned and altruistic

surrogacy is tightly regulated. Gay couples especially gay men

face difficulties for adoption. Even though it is not illegal

for them to adopt but there are not enough children for

adoption in the Netherlands. A recent event shows how different

family understanding is the Netherlands and Turkey have. When

a six months baby boy named Yunus, son of Turkish family, was

dropped by his family in 2004, social services took the child

and gave him to a lesbian couple which made a crisis between

the Netherlands and Turkey. While PM of Turkey, Erdoğan

believes the ministries of both counties can work on the issue,

according to Mark Rutte PM of the Netherlands, this is the

Netherland’s issue. Erdoğan says:

“Sexual orientation is important…. Giving a child to

a gay family is opposite to code of ethics for a

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society who has adopted Islam Culture and who is

Muslim. In the system of foster care, the child must

be given to a family which is appropriate for culture

and values of the child. If the child is Muslim,

he/she must be given to a Muslim family…. This is

non-governmental organizations responsibility and

this is left to neither the Netherlands’s government

nor the Netherlands’s justice.” (Hürriyet, 2013)

The Dutch government does not share the same idea and defense

the country’s child foster care system and values. Dutch Deputy

Premier Lodewijk Asscher calls “Any interference by a foreign

power based on religion or sexual orientation presumptuous.”

Dutch PM Mark Rutte underlines the child’s interest comes first

and adds “No distinction is made in the Netherlands on the

basis of sexual orientation or religion.” (Euronews, 2013)

Despite the fact Dutch gays have freedom that does not

grantee them a life without problems. Even though it is not

huge like in many countries, it is still possible to talk about

homophobia. Yunus and his adoptive mothers had gone into hiding

for their safety during the Erdoğan’s visit. A report which

released by the Amsterdam police showed that 487 incidents of

violence or discrimination against homosexuals were reported

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and 182 of them involving physical violence. (The Netherlands

Institute for Social Research, 2011)

This violence and words have tragic consequences:

almost 64% of the surveyed LGBT 18-24-year-olds in

the study reported thinking about suicide and almost

13% of them attempted suicide. For straight Dutch

youths of the same age group, the figures are

respectively 10.3% (thought about suicide) and 2.2%

(attempted suicide). The study suggests that ongoing

persecution, especially at school and by the parents

is linked to increased risks in suicidal thoughts and

attempts. (Euronews, 2013)

There are three tables below showing opinions about

homosexuality, different attitudes to homosexuality by sex,

age, education, church involvement, political preferences and

opinions about homosexuality by different ethnic groups in the

Netherlands which were taken from The Netherlands Institute for Social

research.

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a Respondents selected a number between 1 and 5, where 1 stands for veryunacceptable and 5 forvery acceptable

27

a Other political preferences are left out of consideration owing to lownumber of respondents(< 50).

28

29

In the Netherlands gays have also some problems but it is the

best country to be gay. Because some researches which made in

Europe in 2000s shows that the Netherlands more understanding

and homosexuals and heterosexuals have equal rights.

30

31

32

In ancient times homosexuality was normal then homosexuals

started to sentence to prison or death with the teachings of

religions. Christianity and Islam see homosexual desires

acceptable as long as they do not turn to actions. Religions

believe homosexuality is a disease or a choice but the latest

studies show genes, hormones and birth order are factors which

determine the sexual orientation. Countries and societies have

different views on the subject. If we talk about Iran they do

not accept homosexuality and make psychological pressure to

sex-change operation that’s why Iran has second place after

Thailand for this type of operations. According to Iranian laws

homosexuality has the penalty of lifetime imprison and

execution. This is one of the reasons why Iranian homosexuals

escape to Turkey but that’s not mean Turkey is much better.

There is no penalty for being gay but they are invisible in

Turkey, they have no recognition. They cannot marry, men

cannot go to the military service and they are seen as immoral

creatures. USA is generally referred as the country of freedoms

but do the homosexuals have freedom in USA? It depends which

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state you are in. DADT and DOMA policies restricted gays’ life

for many years but DADT was abolished in 2010 and DOMA has been

discussing by the Supreme Court of America. For now 12 states

and D.C give license to same sex marriages. Firs legal same sex

marriage was on 1 April 2001 in the Netherlands. Even though

some gays face with violence in the country, the Netherlands is

the best country to be gay. As the researches show Dutch

supports same sex marriage, adoption of gays, they are not

opposed to gay leaders. Homosexuals have equal rights with

heterosexual maybe the right thing to say is the Netherlands is

the best country to be human. Is it possible for all counties

to be like the Netherlands? Like Harvey Milk said “Hope will

never be silent.”

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REFERENCES

Azizerli, Emre. 2012. “The Pink Certificate”. BBC World Service,27 Marchhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00q864h/The_Documentary_The_Pink_Certificate/(1 June, 2013)

Baker, Peter. 2013. “Now in Defence of Gay Marriage, BillClinton.” The New York Times,

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