On
February 18, 2013 a merchant in Turkey was arrested for selling DVD’s of gay
porn, which was seen as “unnatural sex”, and could face up to four years in
prison. However, when the merchant went to court, Judge Manmut Erdemli ruled
that consensual sex between two men is natural. Erdemli argued that sexual
orientation could not be considered unnatural, and therefore should be
respected. He also argued that modern countries, like the United States and
Europe, see homosexual relationships as equal to heterosexual ones, and Turkey
should follow this pattern. While this ruling was great step forward, it was
also surprising due to its contradiction to the views of the country’s Supreme
Court, who openly stated their opposition to the ruling.
Although
this merchant was sentenced to 8 months in prison, for illegally selling porn,
he was extremely luckily to stand in front of a judge with such contemporary,
and accepting, views. This judge is a great pioneer of change for Turkey, and
hopefully this event will create a snowball effect with more and more of its
citizens becoming open-minded to a variety of sexual orientations. I also hope
that the recognition of the United States for being accepting will push more of
our states to live up to this standard. Though we may be more accommodating
that some countries, we still have a ways to go before we have equal treatment
for all.
Reference:
Stephanie Symonds
3:58 PM 02/22/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment