Via Hürriyet Daily News:
A Turkish transsexual identified as G.O., 33, has been accepted to a gender-reassignment program and granted a residence permit in England, where he fled eight years ago.
[...] G.O will take the name Dennis after the transition is complete.
The United Kingdom Home Office offered its complete support to G.O and agreed to pay him 60,000 pounds as a first installment for the surgery he needs [...].
G.O.’s family in the Black Sea region of Turkey is one with many daughters. When asked how his life was before he fled Turkey, G.O said that he never felt like a girl, even in his early childhood. Because he lived in a conservative community, he said, he felt that running away was his only option to escape scrutiny by those societal values.
If he returned to Turkey after the gender-reassignment procedure, G.O said, it would result in his death. He made his case on that basis to the Home Office, which granted him a residence permit allowing him to stay in the U.K.
This report is a rare example of even the usually fair Hürriyet falling prey to what Julia Serano calls trans-objectification (“reducing a person to their body parts rather than viewing them as a whole person” [Via]), which only furthers the marginalisation experienced by trans people – hence my redaction of certain parts of the quoted article. No doubt the more small-c-conservative elements of the British mass media will have a field day with knee-jerk reactionary ‘shock horror outrage’ stories, unfortunately. I can only hope that the likely hate speech will not add to the distress and trauma that Dennis must already have experienced.
But the underlying facts of the story are encouraging, at least. If only there was a way to make these resources available to all trans people resident in Britain, regardless of their backgrounds – and if only Turkey would step up and take responsibility for its own compliance with EU and Human Rights legislation.
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Previous related posts:
- Turkey: IWD for those on the margins of society (March 8, 2010)
- Turkey: Stop violence against transgender people (February 22, 2010)
- Istanbul: another woman murdered (February 17, 2010)
- Turkey: Case to close Siyah Pembe adjourned after first hearing (February 11, 2010)
- Turkey: another woman murdered (February 9, 2010)
- Turkey: cis man sentenced to life imprisonment for deliberate homicide and aggravated looting (January 25, 2010)
- *UPDATE* Turkey: another LGBT rights organization faces closure (December 16, 2009)
- Turkey: Police try to prevent submission of human rights petition by trans protesters (November 2, 2009)
- Turkey: another LGBT rights organization faces closure (October 26, 2009)
- Turkey: Murderer of Melek K sentenced to life imprisonment? (October 18, 2009)
- Turkey: Second hearing in the trial for the murder of Melek K adjourned (October 16, 2009)
- Not-so-easy money (October 1, 2009)
- Easy money (September 29, 2009)
- Turkey: Trans novel banned (August 15, 2009)
- Human rights violations against LGBT individuals in Turkey in 2008 (August 9, 2009)
- Turkey: trials in connection with the murders of two trans women now under way (July 9, 2009)
- Unsafe haven: LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in Turkey (July 8, 2009)
- Turkey – new Chief of Police for Istanbul. Will this bring an end to the “undeclared war” against trans women? (June 15, 2009)
- Turkish policemen on trial for attack on trans woman (May 29, 2009)
- Turkey: another trans woman stabbed to death – UPDATE (May 29, 2009)
- Turkey: another trans woman stabbed to death (May 25, 2009)
- Turkish parliament questioned on trans safety (May 12, 2009)
- Lambda Istanbul granted permission to continue operating (May 7, 2009)
- Suspected murderer of trans rights activist arrested in Turkey (April 21, 2009)
- Every 15 days, another trans person is murdered in Turkey (April 14, 2009)
- The undeclared war against LGBTT people in Turkey continues (March 29, 2009)
- Another trans woman murdered in Turkey (March 14, 2009)
- Trans woman stabbed to death in Istanbul (March 12, 2009)
- Lambda Istanbul wins appeal against closure (January 28, 2009)
- Trans rights abuses in Turkey (November 29, 2008)
