“We have to overcome the threats by ourselves”
Day by day, Sexual Harassment Prevention Units at universities are being closed down, which causes women and LGBTIQ+ people to become isolated against harassment and abuse in their early years. In addition, the question of housing for university students is also increasing. As we left the July 8-14 Nonbinary Awareness Week behind, we talked to Şükrü and Ceylin from Demir Leblebi* about the difficulties LGBTIQ+s face in education and housing from a queer perspective.
First of all, can we get to know you?
Şükrü: I am a student at Marmara University Faculty of Law. Orientation has always been a very fluid thing for me. Right now I can define myself as non-binary. I really live a genderless life. I don't see gender as necessary in my life. Therefore, I don't see it necessary to define myself with a sexual orientation. Sexual orientation has no meaning for me.
Ceylin: I am a student of Latin Language and Literature at Istanbul University. My thinking process is always changing. I never saw myself as a woman or a man, but there were responsibilities that society wanted from me on the female body. Therefore, having a female body was really troublesome for me.
Can you talk a little about the accommodation difficulties of LGBTIQ+ people, especially in dormitories?
C: Even though I sometimes get strange looks for my clothes, I have never been discriminated against one-to-one,. But I have never told any of my friends in the dorm room that I like women, because I know that they are all openly transphobic or homophobic. I can't predict what might happen if I tell them, what kind of reactions I might face. I choose not to tell them to avoid any reaction. But where do I stand at this point?
Ş: I heard that a friend of mine was threatened for sticking a rainbow flag on his desk. It went as far as threats to take away his right to housing. In general, it is very difficult for LGBTIQ+ people to find housing and accommodation. Because houses are not given to LGBTIQ+ people anyway. In fact, it is very difficult to make a living and find a house because of the economy, but when you are a woman and LGBTIQ+, this difficulty multiplies. It even evolves into a situation where we cannot find a house even because of our sexual identities. I did not reveal my identity as long as I stayed in the dormitory.
And besides that, can you be yourself at university?
Ş: In the early years, I hid my identity more. Of course there are gangs that walk around the school and threaten people. Despite all this, I choose to have an open identity. We also have friends who were threatened at school by saying "You are Kurdish, you are a faggot". I was threatened once by text message. I remember not going to school for a couple of weeks after I was threatened. Even the security guards harass students. We have a few professors who defend us, but other than that we don't get much support from the academic community. I was harassed by plainclothes police on campus. Once I was caught putting up posters and after I was taken away I was threatened about my private life. I don't know how they got so much information about me. I remember a few years ago at Istanbul University, dozens of people from outside gathered and threatened our queer friends who were organizing a picnic. The police detained our queer friends instead of the threatening crowd.
C: At Istanbul University they send special people to monitor someone. They send fascists from their own group. The fascists stand in front of us and watch us for hours. We perceive this as a threat. It means that if something happens we will attack you at any moment.
Şükrü, you mentioned that you received threats...
Ş: Yes. I couldn't go to faculty for a couple of weeks after receiving threats, but I wish I had gone… We can't leave the field to them because of a few threats. There is no Sexual Harassment Prevention, Education and Support Coordination Center (CİTÖK) in our university anyway. We demanded but it was rejected and swept under the rug. There is already no institution we can apply to. We also do not know how LGBTIQ+ inclusive it is. And I have to say that who are you complaining to whom. These are actually things we all get used to over time. We have to overcome them.
Are you organized at the university? Do you have clubs for this?
Ş: Not officially. We have a community among ourselves, but of course we cannot collaborate with other clubs or all campuses are shut down at the slightest movement. As Demir Leblebi, we also organize alternative activities on campuses. We have to raise the voice of Marmara University student Ahmet Yıldız. In a way, it is also our duty to raise awareness of our fellow students on this issue.
*Demir Leblebi: a hard nut to cruck.
