Author Archives: queertr

Call to Rectorate of Hacettepe University

Call for morality to Rectorate of Hacettepe University for their unlawful behavior!

The call for action which addresses Hacettepe University Rectorate’s oppression and censorship towards queer research and LGBTI+ students is published.

The call for action which we also signed is as follows…

We are in solidarity with our fellow students against systematic oppression and censorship policy of Hacettepe University Rectorate towards Queer Studies Community. We condemn Rectorate’s position which disregards equality, human rights and academic freedom.

Our call to Rectorate of Hacettepe University: It is imperative for the order of a democratic society that you act accordingly with universal ethical principles, fulfill your duties arising from the constitution and laws, and comply with fundamental human rights. We demand that you abandon your discriminatory and unlawful attitude towards your LGBTI+ students and fulfill your obligations properly.

We stand by the Queer Studies Society and our friends in their struggle for rights.

SIGNTORIES

17 Mayıs Derneği
Aydın LGBTİ+ Dayanışması
Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi Renkli Çatı Kulübü
Bilkent Üniversitesi Kadın Çalışmaları Topluluğu
Çöpsüz ODTÜ İnisiyatifi
Genç LGBTİ+ Derneği
Hacettepe Eşitlik
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Biyoloji Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Dayanışma Ağı
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Hayvan Hakları ve Doğayı Koruma Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Kadın Çalışmaları Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Marksist Fikir Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Model Birleşmiş Milletler Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Münazara Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sanat ve Mimari Topluluğu
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Toplumsal Araştırmalar Topluluğu
Hevi LGBTİ+ Derneği
İstanbul Kültür Üniversitesi LGBTİ+ Topluluğu
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Cinsiyet Kimliği ve Cinsel Yönelim Çalışmaları Kulübü
Kaos GL Derneği
Lambda İstanbul LGBTİ+ Dayanışma Derneği
Marmara Üniversitesi İnsan Hakları ve Anayasa Hukuku Araştırmaları Topluluğu
Marmara Üniversitesi Kadın Hakları Kulübü
MEF Üniversitesi LGBTQ+ Kulübü
ODTÜ Amatör Astronomi Topluluğu
ODTÜ BİYOGEN Topluluğu
ODTÜ Doğanın Çocukları
ODTÜ Emek Gençliği
ODTÜ Eşitlik
ODTÜ Kampüs Cadıları
ODTÜ Kavaklık İnisiyatifi
ODTÜ Klasik Gitar Topluluğu
ODTÜ LGBTİ+ Dayanışması
ODTÜ Marksist Fikir Topluluğu
ODTÜ Medya Topluluğu
ODTÜ Mimarlık Topluluğu
ODTÜ Münazara Topluluğu
ODTÜ Müzik Toplulukları
ODTÜ Öğrenci Kolektifi
ODTÜ Öğrenci Sendikası
ODTÜ Özgürlükçü Gençlik
ODTÜ Serüven Kültür
ODTÜ Sinema Topluluğu
ODTÜ Siyaset Bilimi Topluluğu
ODTÜ Sosyoloji Topluluğu
ODTÜ Toplumsal Cinsiyet Çalışmaları Topluluğu
ODTÜ Üniversiteli Kadın Kolektifi
ODTÜ Vegan
Özyeğin Üniversitesi LGBTİQ+ Kulübü
Sivil Alan Araştırmaları Derneği
Sunflowernet Sosyal Platformu
Türkiye LGBTİ Birliği


Credit: Mor Absolution

 

Support Message to Brazilian Trans Community

Father Julio Lancellotti, a Catholic priest from São Paulo in Brazil, shared a photo of trans women on his Instagram account and spoke in favor of inclusion and equality.

“The fight against discrimination and prejudice is a never-ending struggle. We are all children of God. We must always admit and never discriminate ”

Father Julio Lancellotti’s support for the Brazilian trans community is nothing new, with more than 345,000 subscribers on Instagram.

The priest is known as a strong advocate of equality in Brazil. He has spoken many times in favor of the rights and equality of the LGBTI + community.

The 72-year-old priest has worked tirelessly for the homeless throughout his career. In 2018, she made a splash on social media by sharing a video of a homeless trans woman asking for forgiveness for all the horrors the Brazilian society has experienced.

Father Julio Lancellotti was praised by his supporters for promoting love and equality for the trans community, and even appreciated for his work by the Brazilian Bar Human Rights Committee in the past.

Greece’s First Openly Gay Minister

Nicholas Yatromanolakis has made history by becoming Greece’s first openly gay minister in a cabinet reshuffle in the center-right government.

Nicholas Yatromanolakis, 44, has been promoted from the position of general secretary at the ministry to become the new minister of culture.

Alexis Patelis, the Greek Prime Minister’s chief economic advisor said in a tweet that, it was a “historic day for LGBTI+ representation, a big win for meritocracy and better decision-making through diversity”.

“Congrats to Nicholas Yatromanolakis for showing you can be yourself and still succeed,” he added. “May others draw strength to live their life openly.”

Nicholas Yatromanolakis’ Political Life

Before entering politics in 2014 as a founding member of the now-defunct centrist party Potami, Yatromanolakis worked in marketing and communications for companies including Microsoft and has a masters in public policy from Harvard.

“For a long time … I felt I had to choose and that there were identities that could never be compatible with one another,” said Yatromanolakis, who left To Potami in 2016 and joined the government in 2019.

He rejected the suggestion that his appointment to the culture ministry might be viewed as tokenism.

“People do not understand and see that the (cultural) sector… creates jobs, creates opportunities,” said Yatromanolakis, who used to work for a cultural center housing the country’s national opera and library.

He said his priorities in the job included channeling state financial aid to people working in the arts during the pandemic.

Asked what measures the government could take to support LGBTI+ people, Yatromanolakis said he wanted better implementation of existing anti-discrimination laws, including training in private companies and government bodies.

“No person growing up should feel they have to choose between who they are and what they want to become in life,” he said.

“I wish someone else was first before me … (but) if this helps people who have problems because of who they are … then it’s worth it.”

Which one is safe? WhatsApp, Telegram or Signal!

Which application should LGBTI individuals use as communication application, Telegram, Whatsapp or Signal, which one is safe? Tamer Şahin evaluated messaging applications for the daily Hurriyet.

Cyber Security Specialist Tamer Şahin commented on the data privacy management of chat applications that have been the subject of discussion recently and the heavy user transition from WhatsApp to Telegram.

The most important issue that has occupied the agenda of the country lately is the changing confidentiality agreement of the WhatsApp application, which provides free services such as messaging, audio and video calls and is installed on almost everyone’s smartphones today. The new confidentiality agreement, which is mandatory in our country by WhatsApp, a Facebook organization and announced that the program cannot be used if it is not accepted, opened the issue of data security to discussion. With this latest move of the WhatsApp application, there was a “flock” to similar messaging and speech applications, especially Telegram.

What does the news privacy agreement bring?

Şahin said that many applications we have installed on our phone also request data from us, but among them, the ones that make money stand out.

Stating that companies such as Facebook and Google make money from data, Şahin explains the details of the new WhatsApp confidentiality agreement as follows:

“Actually, we have to look at this; We share a lot of data from daily messaging apps. And these messaging apps are now evolving, entering the business world. WhatsApp is preparing for this. In his last statement, İT says: ‘You can continue to correspond with your friends and family as before, but I reduce encryption and increase data sharing in accounts used for work. Because I provide free service, I provide service in return. ”

Mobile Apps like Facebook Messenger contain trojan

Reminding that we have shared many of our personal data so far, Şahin says that it will be a problem for us not to know how long the institution will process this data after today, and he describes Facebook as a “criminal” institution in this regard.

Stating that Facebook can benefit from all commercial data with the last confidentiality agreement; “Especially if you use Facebook Messenger, all your videos, photos and contact lists on your phone are completely open, so it’s something like a trojan.” he adds.

How Safe is The Telegram Shown as an Alternative?

After WhatsApp‘s latest confidentiality agreement, many users in our country reacted to this situation and announced that they would start using Telegram, a similar application. As a matter of fact, Telegram’s number of active users reached 500 million with millions of new users, according to Telegram‘s records recently. Well, what awaits users who switch to Telegram, worrying that WhatsApp will not protect their data.

Is Telegram more secure than WhatsApp?

Şahin comments on this subject as follows:

“Now there are different projects. Some of them are created as closed source code and the data in these projects are completely owned by that company. However, some of them use open source code and anyone can access them. Telegram stands out, it has so many features. You can reach 100 thousand people with the group feature. Of course all of this comes at a cost and is closed source. So we have no information about what is working on the server. ”

“The Most Balanced Application Signal in Terms of Safety”

Stating that those who want to communicate securely should stay away from the Telegram application, Tamer Şahin says that the application does not provide end-to-end encryption and that the most stable application in terms of security is signal.

“In Telegram, there is no user-to-user encryption and this is worse than WhatsApp. So Whatsapp; He says, “I cannot read the speeches.”However, conversations can be read on Telegram. Therefore Signal can be used. Signal is the most stable application in terms of usability and security. ”

Gay Dating Apps

Gay dating apps such as Grindr, Tinder, Jack’d and many others have numerous benefits; one benefit being that they bring a community of people together who would otherwise not have a way of connecting with one another and another benefit being that they allow for a person to chat with potential dates and/or browse through profiles for a mate while on the go. Dating apps also, however, have numerous drawbacks; one drawback being that the majority of the people that use them tend to be shallow and focused only on looks and finding sex and another drawback being that they invite people with malicious intent to join them and prey on unsuspecting victims. It is important to always keep in mind when using dating apps that the person you are chatting with is nothing but words and pictures on a screen until you meet them in person.

It isn’t uncommon for people to even experience racism on dating apps, especially black men. Many people view dating apps as spaces where they can be blunt and open about their personal preferences and personal ideologies, but I would suggest to think of dating apps more as speed dating events. You would more than likely dress up in your Sunday’s best and be cordial, kind and honest at a speed dating event, so why can’t you be a cordial, kind and honest gentleman while using dating apps?

You should always use your best judgement when it comes to meeting people from dating apps in person. For example, if something does not feel right or if someone makes you uncomfortable, then don’t go through with meeting them in person. You should never commit to meeting with someone if you have any hesitation or fears. Be safe, have fun and remember to always be yourself.

Personal Advice

Acceptance of Homosexuality is Increasing

According to a study conducted in the USA, the tendency of homosexuality to be accepted in societies has increased worldwide. Turkey showed differences in acceptance rates by 25 percent Trends countries.

According to the survey results announced by the US-based Pew research company, more and more people around the world are of the opinion that homosexuality should be accepted more.

However, although there is a general increase in the acceptance of homosexuality, the rates vary according to the countries depending on the demographic structure. Accordingly, mostly in Western Europe, rich countries and societies with a high level of education, young people accept homosexuality as a part of the society.

According to the results of the research comparing 2002 and 2019, the rate of those who think that homosexuals are included in the society in the USA increased from 51 percent in 2002 to 72 percent in 2019. From 25 percent to 44 percent in South Korea, from 54 percent to 68 percent in Japan, from 33 percent to 54 percent in South Africa, from 83 percent to 86 percent in Germany and It increased from 74 percent to 86 percent in the UK.

In the study, it was also examined whether there is a parallel between individuals’ political tendencies and their perception of homosexuals. The research revealed that there is a deep ideological gap in the outlook for homosexuals between two different political fronts in the US.

Accordingly, 85 percent of Democratic voters in the USA support homosexuals, while those close to Republicans support homosexuals at 58 percent.

Bottom row in Turkey

Societies where homosexuality is not welcome were also listed in the study. Accordingly, Nigeria is the country where homosexuality is least accepted in society with 7 percent. 9 percent in Indonesia and Tunisia, 13 percent in Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, and 14 percent in Kenya and was determined to be 25 percent in Turkey.

Religion is also an influential factor in the view of homosexuality, according to Pew’s research. Accordingly, the rate of acceptance of homosexuals among religious people is lower than nonreligious people.

While 73 percent of religious and religious people in Germany think that homosexuals should be accepted in society, this rate is 91 percent for non-religious Germans.

While the proportion of religious people who support homosexuals is 22 percent in Israel, this rate is 62 percent for non-religious people. In Poland, the rate of support for homosexuals varies among religious and non-religious people. 73 percent of the religious and 53 percent of the non-religious people in the country think that homosexuality should be accepted.

62 percent of religious people in Italy, 80 percent of non-religious people, 66 percent of religious people in Brazil, and 76 percent of people who are not see homosexuality as a part of society.

while 19 percent of those defining homosexuality as a pious religious people in Turkey while seeing itself as part of society finds 45 percent. In the USA, this situation is at the level of 57 percent and 86 percent.

A total of 38 thousand 426 people from 34 countries participated in the study, which covered the period of May and October 2019.

Dating Advice for Gay Men: Gay Dating Sites

3 Tips For Choosing a Dating Site That’s Right For You:

Any gay college stud has already seen the crowded field of dating sites available from any computer, laptop or mobile phone these days. If you haven’t discovered online dating, do yourself a favor and browse around a bit because it really does simplify a lot of the social requirements as compared to cruising the bar scene, and there aren’t any 21 and over requirements to get into a gay dating site the way there are at local campus pubs. The real question at this point is what makes one gay dating site better than another for your personal use?

1. It really ought to be free to try.

If you reach a site and it starts asking you for money immediately, just go somewhere else. Yes, dating sites do deserve to earn a living just like anyone else providing a service, but all the good ones are free to try or at least give you some kind of limited trial access until you get a chance to decide if they fit your needs. Anyone saying, “give me 50 bucks and then I’ll show you what’s inside” these days isn’t a good option.

2. Inclusive is important.

Some gay dating sites try to be so niche it’s absurd. If you really only want to date one very narrow kind of person, then I guess a site that only caters to “men who wear blue shoes on Wednesdays” might be a halfway decent choice, but dating (especially in your college years) should really be about exploring and opening yourself up to new experiences. That’s why more inclusive dating sites make sense, where you can get to know a variety of men from all different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and more.

3. Size matters.

Yeah, there are plenty of size queens who think the bulge of your blue jeans is what matters most, but when it comes to gay dating online, the size you really want to focus on is the size of the community you are joining. Why waste your time on some tiny dating site, talking to the same eighteen people, when you can be on a gay dating site, talking to thousands of people in your own local area and millions of people globally?

The sooner you get into a free, inclusive and sizable dating community online, the faster your college gay dating experience will be able to exceed all of your own expectations. If you find great sites worth joining, be sure to contact us and let us know so we can include them in our own upcoming tips for gay men!

Transgender Definition, Transgender Meaning

Transgender syndrome is a congenital medical condition treated by university hospitals around the world. It is a physical (organic) condition that takes shape in the mother’s womb. The initial sex of the offspring in all mammals is female. In the second month of development in the womb, the sex of the baby remains female or turns into a male with the hormones secreted by the fetus. During this period, the sexual structure of that tiny body and brain is determined. This explains why males also have nipples that remain as traces of the original female gender.

Something goes wrong at this stage of fetal development, and the sex of the baby’s body and the sex of the brain will not be the same, that is, the brain remains female while the body is performing sexual transformation, or while the brain is transforming, the body remains female before it transforms. Research on the brain confirms this explanation. Autopsies performed on people born transsexual have shown that the gender of the brain is not the same as the sex at birth. (Part of the brain is different in males and females.)

It is not medically possible to adjust the consciousness to the transgender body. The solution adapts the body to the brain / consciousness. This process is called gender redefinition or gender correction. The procedure takes many years (such as epilation, talking therapy, hormone therapy). Also, the financial source of this transaction must be provided. Surgery is not the last step of the procedure.

Transexuality has nothing to do with transvestism. Transvestites are men who like to look like a woman, even though they are happy and content to be men.

Transsexuality is not linked to homosexuality. A gay man gets together with a homosexual man, and a homosexual woman gets along with a homosexual woman. They are proud of their gender and oppose surgical removal of their genitals unless they encounter cancer or another disease. Homosexuality refers to a relationship. Transsexuality indicates identity anxiety, not sexual orientation. Like other people, the transgender-born person can have a relationship with a man, a woman, both, or neither.

Transsexuality is not a mental illness. Psychiatrists and psychologists saw it as an illness and tried to treat it for years. But since this is not a mental illness, it has now been understood that it is not possible to be cured by psychiatrists. In fact, it has been observed that a transgender is more balanced in terms of mental health than other people.

Clothing and appearance are not a matter of taste for transsexuals The transgender person dresses up and dresses up specifically to be seen as a natural member of the opposite sex. This is a necessary part of the treatment and the person has to live in this role for at least 1 year like a member of the opposite sex until the operation is allowed.

A transgender is not a man who wants to be a woman, or a woman who wants to be a man. Although the identity card says that he is a member of a gender, before the treatment the person is neither male nor female, he / she is transgender. Because there is a discrepancy between the gender in the brain / consciousness and the gender in the identity document.

There is no cure for the syndrome other than gender reassessment. Until the gender re-determination stage, the person is considered to be medically transsexual, but after the procedure, he is no longer a transsexual, but simply a woman or a man.

It is unpredictable to what family a transsexual can be born into. You cannot know if your child or grandchild is transgender. The majority of sufferers spend unhappy decades trying insistently to live in the gender they were born with, like everyone else. So, when these people are questioned, they may even persistently refuse to be of the opposite sex. As the years pass and mature, they begin to understand what is wrong and with great courage they can attempt to change everything radically. Because no one becomes transgender over time, you personally know whether you are transgender or not. If not, you’d be grateful for that.

Untreated, transsexuals can go mad or even commit suicide as a result of the anxiety and depression they can’t handle, because no one can suppress their existing identity for a lifetime. Before surgery, 80% of these people seriously intend to kill themselves, try or actually commit suicide. After surgery, this rate falls to the level of suicide rates in the community.

Transsexuality is not a negligible situation. Often, he may lose his family, friends, job, home, savings and reputation for the sake of this treatment. It should not be forgotten that

Nothing costs more than their lives.

These losses are the result of society’s indifference to the issue. Being born transsexual is not their choice. This is not a problem created by him.

If you change your gender by surgery, you will fall into a transgender’s pre-treatment state. No one can be forced to live in the wrong sex, even a day!.

Hygiene And Aging

Let’s face it, we humans are visual creatures and we live within a culture that is obsessed with looks. No matter what our age, our race, our nationality, or what our creed is, we as a people are constantly pressured by the media and by celebrity culture to stay fit and young looking. This constant pressure to stay young makes dealing with the reality of the aging process hard for many people, especially gay men.

As we all know, the gay culture places an extreme importance on looks. For example, some of the most highly sought after bodily features within the gay community are youthful white skin, flat stomachs and six-pack abs. What if, however, you don’t naturally have any of those features? What if, for example, you are Asian, Black or Latino with dark skin, a pudgy stomach and man boobs? Is there any hope for you in finding love? The short answer is yes, of course there is hope for you in finding love! The long answer is that there is indeed hope for you, but in a society that is primarily focused on looks, you will have to make some sacrifices to be able to compete in dating. The most important thing, though, is that you are comfortable and confident in your own skin no matter what other people think of you.

It doesn’t take very much money or energy to properly take care of yourself, to stay fit and to fight against aging. The most important things to keep in mind are to stay hydrated, to stay moisturized, to stay active and to constantly protect yourself against the sun. It is important to note here that the sun is the number one cause of premature aging and skin cancer and it is for this reason that we should be wearing sunscreen of at least SPF 30 or above every day. Keep in mind that with most sunscreens you will need to reapply them after a certain amount of time. You should drink at least half a gallon to a gallon of water every day and you should also use a hydrating moisturizer on your entire body every day, twice a day (morning and night). Don’t forget to brush your teeth twice a day (morning and night) and floss at least once a day. It is also important to note that you don’t have to join a gym to stay active. For example, being active can include walking around your neighborhood once a day for thirty minutes or taking a weekly dance class or a Yoga class. How you stay active is up to you!

The reality for all of humanity is that with each passing day we age and we get older and as we age and we get older, it gets harder and harder to stay young and fit. This is why it is so important that we take care of ourselves and our bodies in our youth so that when we get older we won’t have to worry about staying young and fit because we already will be.

By: K. Frank

 

Dealing With Homophobic Family

Dealing with homophobic people in general is difficult, but when those people are your family it hurts. Unfortunately, in most cases, you will not be able to change the views of your homophobic family members regarding your sexuality, especially if their homophobia stems from their religion.

The best you can do is to temporarily distance yourself from said homophobic family members for two reasons:

1.) You need to get away from the toxicity and stress that your family members cause you due to your sexuality, and

2.) You need to take a step back and educate yourself on why your family members are the way they are so that you can fully understand their perspectives. It could be that it isn’t necessarily you they dislike, it’s the homosexual stereotypes and stigma. For most people, homophobia stems from a lack of factual knowledge about homosexuality.

Once you’ve distanced yourself from your homophobic family members and taken a step back to understand their perspectives, then you can take the next steps in calmly confronting them on their behavior and educating them. Most conservative or religious people will not willingly seek out or accept factual information regarding sexuality, so please be sure to be mindful of this when confronting your family members on their homophobic behavior if they are conservative or religious. Understand that the homophobia will not go away in a day, a week, or in some cases, ever. Remember, the most you can do is to distance yourself, take a step back and understand their perspective, confront them and then educate them. After that, the rest is up to them.

In life family is all that we have, so while it may be okay to temporarily distance yourself from your family in pursuit of ridding your life of homophobia, remember to not distance yourself from your family forever. Sometimes it takes distancing yourself from people for them to appreciate you and for them to realize that they are missing out on having you in their lives for such a trivial and ignorant reason; a reason that neither you nor they can change.

Personal Advice