A gay-rights activist holding a placard reading: "Don't hate, apologize," is evacuated as he protests on April 15, 2010 in Ankara against Family Affairs and Women's Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf, who declared that she believed homosexuality was a "biological disorder, a disease." © Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images
Violence, discrimination, and official contempt: a new Amnesty report on LGBT rights in Turkey outlines the difficult straits of the LGBT community in Turkey.
The report makes for grim reading. The LGBT community in Turkey is subject to a general atmosphere of harassment and discrimination. Violence is widespread and often comes from members of their own families. Assault, rape, and even murder go uninvestigated and unpunished.