Gender Discrimination in Turkish Society and its Effects on Transgender Individuals

The influence of traditional Islamic values on Turkish policy making has resulted in further marginalization, stigmatization, and socially disparate outcomes for those who do not fit the dominant hetero-normative gender norms and sexual identities. A macro level analysis of the silenced politics of queer identity in Turkey will be discussed by analyzing the debates of four members of parliament representing their parties' in the Turkish government. In addition, it includes a discussion of a bill proposed in February 2013 by the political party CHP which promoted the improvement of LGBT rights in Turkey but which failed to pass in parliament. This study will then introduce a micro-level analysis of previously collected interviews with twenty transgender individuals. The experiences of transgender individuals in Turkey will be examined by drawing from current Turkish and global literature on transgender identity and Turkish news media reports on sex workers. In addition, the results of this study illustrate the importance of immediate policy changes that need to be made to the Turkish Constitution in order to safeguard the rights of transgender individuals in Turkey.