On June 2006, Istanbul Governorship Provincial Directorate of Associations, had declared to Lambdaistanbul LGBTT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesty, transsexual) Solidarity Association with a text that the words composing the name of the association (lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesty and transsexual) and the aims stated at the second item of the charter are covered by the conditions restrictive for freedom of foundation of society and Turkish equivalent of the word ‘Lambda’ should be stated with the words composing the names of the association. The directorate asked for the completion of these defects in thirty days.

Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association had given place to the Turkish equivalent of the word ‘Lambda’ in the charter and had sent the new formation of the charter to the directory of association by stating that they would not change their names because it was totally against the aim of the association.

Istanbul Governorship had demanded the closure of the association with the accusation of the charter’s being against to the laws and public morals from the Attorney generalship of Beyoglu. Attorney generalship had decided to disclosure of the society on the basis of the absence of any situation against the laws and public morals in the name and aims of the association after evaluation of the process and the proposal of accusation. Governorship of Istanbul appealed to the superior court with the proposal of re-evaluation of the decision after this judgment. The court decided to claim the association with the demand of closure. The Attorney Generalship sent the text consisting of the reasons for the closure to the Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association. The process of the lawsuit began with the first trial in July -19^th - 2007. The date of the following trial was determined to be October-18^th -2007, Thursday at 11 am at Beyoglu Sutluce Administration of Justice 5^th Court.

It wasn’t stated what is suitable or against the laws and morals both in the official correspondences and in the text of the attorney generalship. The chapter consisting of the aims of the society (2^nd issue of the charter) is formed with 23 different paragraphs. No clear explanation for the inappropriate sentences and concepts taking place in these paragraphs was given. No clarity at this point of closure takes place.

Similar accusations were made also to Kaos GL Cultural Researches and Solidarity Association, Pink Life LGBTT Solidarity Association and Bursa Rainbow LGBTT Association like Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association. Kaos GL & Bursa Rainbow Associations have completed the process of foundation as a consequence of no objection of related governorships to the decisions. Pink Life Society is also in a similar process of closure.

Reasons and answers to the trial, and the issues that were claimed to be absent in the charter of the society;

-Foundation of the society shouldn’t be allowed on the basis of the second part of 56^th item of Turkish Civil Law number 4721

-Family in the 41^st issue of Turkish Constitution forms the basis of Turkish population and stands on the equivalence of the counterparts. State constitutes the organization and takes appropriate measures for protection of the peace in the family and protection of mother and children   particularly and education of family planning.

It is necessary for the statement against the laws and morals take place in the charter of the society. But no statement that should cause such a claim takes place in the charter. No clear explanation for ‘being against morals’ takes place in any international contracts or in Turkish Constitution. Any explanation on the basis of ‘existence’ shouldn’t be against laws and morals. The concept of ’moral’ is about the valid worth of the population. No expression takes place breaking these values in the charter.

Lambdaistanbul is forced to be closed on the basis of the rule “A society against laws and morals shouldn’t be founded according to Turkish Civil Law and 41^st issue of the Turkish Constitution. It is contented with statement of the text of the related issue instead of explaining the conditions against the structure of the family. Istanbul Governorship Provincial Directorate of Associations has behaved solely with prejudice and ignored the national and international subjects under discussion in laws by proposing the closure of Lambdaistanbul LBGTT Solidarity Association. There is no official basis of the obstructions and it is a fundamental to be able to found an organization at the open spaces which are not clearly prohibited by the laws. Freedom of organization is protected by both Turkish Constitution and international obliging rules and regulations. There are LGBTT associations founded on the basis of laws and these associations continue to their activity at many cities of Turkey. It should be asked if Ankara and Bursa Governorship Provincial Directorate of Associations had neglected their duties opposite of the sensitivity of Istanbul Governorship Provincial Directorate of Associations. Despite the statement of no need for continuing legal proceedings of Head Attorney Generalship of Ankara, Head Attorney Generalship of Bursa and Republic Head Attorney Generalship of Beyoglu; Istanbul Governorship Provincial Directorate of Associations intends to hinder the freedom of organization. It is opposite to the principle of equivalence in the Turkish Constitution to obstruct the existence of Lambdaistanbul LBGTT Solidarity Association on the basis of laws in spite of the existence of other LBGTT associations activating in other cities of Turkey. 10^th issue of Turkish Constitution states that “everybody is equal on the basis law without discrimination of language, race, color, gender, political thought, philosophical beliefs, and religion, sect and similar reasons. Women and men have equal rights”, “State is responsible with the constitution of life of these equivalences”.

Right of organization is one of the most important routes of an individual to join to the population and public life that he or she lives in. Individuals, who are not able to voice themselves solely, shall expose their proposal relevant with their self-interests effectively by this way.

Pluralism is one of the most important specialty of democracy and every group has right to organize in order to voice themselves at democratic countries. Voluntarily founded social associations take part in activities by the way of gaining right of existence and activate by the help of organization principles. Freedom of organization is at least the right of individuals to join with other. This freedom is one of the most important one of human rights plus basic rights and is one of the irresistible elements of democratic and modern population. Individuals are gathered on the basis of political, religious, cultural, economical and social aims via freedom of right to state a thought. The opinions of individuals that couldn’t be voiced alone shall be conducted to others via this way and clarify and unite the disorganized and different opinions.

According to the 11^th item of the Human rights Contract of Europe:

1) Everyone has right to gather for meeting, found society, and found labor unions to protect their rights and joining to labor unions.

2) Restriction of using  these rights in a democratic population should only  base on the aims of protection of national security ,organization of public order ,prevention of crimes and setting sanitary measures,  prevention of morals or others rights and freedom only by laws. This item isn’t an obstacle to restrict the armed forces, local forces or the ones who are a duty at the organization of state.

E.H.R.C’s first sentence of second paragraph of eleventh item states that the intervention to the freedom of organization should be approved by the law and  be made on the basis of legal aims  and hold out to the necessities of democratic public rules and regulations. Not obeying to one of these criteria emerges the consequence of interruption to freedom of organization.

When we evaluate the decisions about societies of Strasbourg Units, societies shouldn’t be hindered at the moment they had a public personality and also at the moment they began the activation with the condition of not denying the democratic principals and not resorting to force. States shall wait for the associations to activate and see the consequences of their activities before the intervention.          

European Human Rights Contract consists of prohibition to discrimination at the 14^th item by the side of the freedom of organization. Consistence of the item is as follows; To benefit from these rights and freedom is kept without any discrimination of gender, race, language, religion, political and other convictions, national and social origin, belonging to a minority in nation, wealth, birth or another situation. 22^nd item of “International Contract about Civil and Political Rights” which was also signed by Turkey, arranges the organization rights. According to this; 1- Everyone has freedom of organization by joining to others; this right consists of founding labor union and joining to labor union. 2- No limitation can be set against using these rights except for the limitations in a democratic society anticipated by laws with the aims of protecting national security, social security, public regulations, general sanitary measures, morals, rights and freedom of others. This item doesn’t prevent the limitation of armed forces and members of police organization to use this right.

According to the justification stated at The Associations Law no: 5253; basic principle of new law and norms developed by certificate of participation of partnership, reports of annual development, judgments of E.H.R.C. and Court Of European Human Rights state not to interrupt the privacy of societies and to supply for continuation to their activities without surveillance of official authorities and public. State must give way to associations in a protective manner instead of applying pressure on.

Let’s survey on the aims stated at the second item of Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association and examine it’s incongruity to laws and morals.

Aim of the Association:

a) Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association support organization aims to support all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender men and women to adopt equality as a value, to realize their inner selves and to help bring peace, and welfare by developing themselves.  Also, Lambdaistanbul helps to struggle against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by contributing cultural, educational, and artistic events, and supports the ones who work for this cause. Lambdaistanbul gives importance to look skeptical and to question norms, and helps to develop democratic means.

b) It aims to transfer LGBT individuals to be active and powerful in the social, cultural, economic and political manors.  To achieve this, Lambdaistanbul seeks LGBT individual’s place in society, difficulties they had faced, their point of view and tendencies in order to have an active role in decision making process.

c) To guide LGBT individuals while becoming more professional, more active and responsible to society and social matters

d) To educate society about homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender since Lambdaistanbul believes that homosexuality and bisexuality are sexual orientations just like heterosexuality and transsexuality is a gender identity instead of something immoral, sick, and crime.

e) Deciding on the policies that affects LGBT individuals and take discussions to international platform and help to adapt and spread international policies about LGBT individuals with respect to equality, human rights and democracy concepts.

f) To improve LBGT individuals’ activity, with present domestic and international organizations, and to form new co operations to achieve this goal and to carry projects.

g) To inform world and governments and to built co operations with related institutions.

h) Helping LGBT individuals to improve themselves according to needs of the century and developments, and to create a renewed LGBT movement according to needs of time.

i) To create a platform between international and domestic LGBT individuals and organizations in order to understand each other, to transfer knowledge and technology and to achieve democratic development.

j) Contributing Turkey’s development on the road of the European Union, and to raise the voice of LGBT individuals and to transfer demands to the government and to the European society.

k) To carry out researches and projects which aim LGBT individuals to gain their rights, and get protection. Also Lambdaistanbul aims taking actions for LGBT individuals to reach their social, cultural and economic rights. Moreover, Lambdaistanbul shares evaluations to related institutions and carries out PR’s on this subject.

l) To encourage scientific researches on homosexuality, bisexuality, and transgender, and to support such attempts financially and spiritually. Lambdaistanbul works with universities to build up LGBT studies programs in universities and to provide its’ spread.

m) To work on difficulties and discriminations that LGBT individuals had or have been faced in family, education, academy, study environment, military, media, and sexual health issues. And to inform related institutions about such difficulties and discriminations, in order to create an equal and democratic environment.

n) To take steps against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic attitudes and practices on the filed of psychiatry and psychology. Also, to keep in track of ethical rules on patient rights, encourage doctors and scholars to act according to rules; if not Lambdaistanbul informs Turkey Psychiatry Association, Turkish Psychologist Association and Turkish Doctors Association for needed actions.

o) Acting against families, school administrations’, and similar institutions’ force to LGBT individuals closed down to mental clinics, and to therapies that aims to convert LGBT individuals to heterosexuality. Moreover, Lambdaistanbul keeps track of such violations, reporting them and if necessary taking judicial actions.

p) To act against, violations against LGBT individuals such as discrimination, isolation, physical violence, forced treatment, forced marriages, prevention of economic, social and cultural rights and working with social services to fight against homophobic, biphobic and transphobic actions.

r) To keep in track of legal code, professional regulations about describing LGBT rights and if a violation -such as naming as a sickness, guilt or immorality- occurs taking serious actions against such violations.

s) To act against discriminations or violations against LGBT individuals in education policies, in curriculums and in course books. To keep in track of education institutions’ policies on homosexuals, bisexuals and transgenders and on sexual orientation, on sexual identity, and eliminating them from homophobia, biphobia and transphobia by reporting to the Ministry of Education. Also Lambdaistanbul aims to work with education unions, and psychological counsels to develop policies on such violations.

t) Discussing the homosexual and bisexual gravitation in tuition of psychiatrical and psychological education as a psycho-sexual deviation or pathology, and watching the curriculum and applications against teaching about this subject and transmitting them to the related establishments if needed.

u) Watching the laws in the business life to rearrange for covering the sexual orientation and identity discrimination to report this kind of discriminatory applications. Taking courage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, travesty, transsexual worker or officer, men or women to attend the union against sexual deviation and discrimination and supporting them with earthly, morally and legal.

v) Making collaborative studies with associations, unions, foundations and establishments which work in the sanity, sexual health, education, human rights, law, family, media-communication, social service and business life area in between regulations which is convenient in Law of Associations and making cooperative studies in common intentions with them.

y) Contributing to international dialogue for development of respect and empathy between cultures.

z) For a better future, Lambdaistanbul aims to cooperate globally with LGBT individuals and organizations all around the world and to create a global understanding, Lambdaistanbul seek to play an active role.

When we consider the concept of morality, it is pretty obvious that it is the sum of the rules, principles and beliefs which organizes the relationships among individuals, families, states and all other people. It is also known that, behaviors which are accepted as positive based on the context of good and bad, names as morality, and main task of it is, maintaining order in the social life, applying rules for relations among individuals and includes the term of relativity which varies based on the nations. Real consensus is as it should be real that, like all of the others whose major is moral sciences is “human will power should be free” also being homosexual does not mean being immoral during time when the “discrimination on sexual orientation” is being discussed while restructuring the New Turkish Penal Code. It is pretty obvious that, charter of Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association which was founded with the aims described above, does not have any contradiction against law and morality either in objective or subjective meanings.

Other topic, which Provincial Directorate of Societies claims as absent in the charter is the article 31st of the Associations Law. According to the article, associations use Turkish language in their books, records, and all the correspondence with the official institutions of the Turkish Republic. Meanings of the words, which take place in the both name and the charter of Lambdaistanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association are given below:

Homosexual: Person who tends to satisfy his/her sexual feelings and desires with his/her own sex. (See: Turkish Language Institution (TDK) Science and Art Terms Dictionary)

Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to other women both sexually and emotionally. It also defines as woman homosexual as well. Women who are attracted to both male and females are generally names as bisexuals. Sexual identity of definition that person made, cannot overlap ones behaviors. Being a lesbian is sexual orientation, unlike the common belief it is not a “voluntary act” and it is considered as unchangeable. It is assumed that root of the word “Lesbian” is the name of the island “Lesbos” where Sappho lived.

Gay: Homosexual person (usually male). It has its roots from the French word of gai. Originally it means “happy, unconcerned”, and “colorful, dashing”, however in 1960’s the term gay started being used by male homosexuals for defining themselves. Other meanings of gay are being disappearing due to lack of usage.

The term lesbian which means female homosexual is being used since 1800’s. Making up for the deficiency, the term gay, which firstly used for defining male homosexuals, started to use for homosexual person in time.

Bisexual: Word defines for people who are sexually and emotionally attracted to both their own and opposite sex.

Transvestite: Only the urge of dressing as the opposite sex. It is the equivalent of Cross dresser in Europe; however it is being accepted as transsexuality in Turkey. In public opinion transvestite is being considered as a man in drag, it covers both male and females.

Transsexual: General name for people who feel themselves belong to the opposite sex, who have the urge of being as the opposite sex or feel themselves as opposite sex.

It is valid for both males and females, thus meaning a male wants to be a woman or vice versa. However transsexual is generally a determinant word for psychological tendency. Regardless of the behaviors of person, it is more related with the fact that person feel that’s/he belongs to the opposite sex. Hence it is not possible to identify transsexuals related with their appearance. Since, they do not reflect their wish of being the opposite sex all the time to their appearance.

Based on public opinion, transvestite defines people who do not have sex change operation (male to female generally in Turkey) only man in drag, and transsexual defines people who had a sex change operation (male to female generally in Turkey) in addition that clothing and behaviors as two terms, there is no word for defining males and females regardless of the sex change operation status.

Lambda: Letter “L” in Greek alphabet, it was designed as the symbol of gay freedom in 1970 by New York Gay Activist Association. It was determined as the international symbol of gay freedom movement in 1974 during the Gay Rights General Assembly in Edinburg (Scotland). According to some sources it was chosen since it implies co-operation (synergy). Synergy is the understanding that the whole is bigger than the individual components which form it. Another source states that this symbol was chosen since it is the first letter of the word “Liberation”.

• It is the letter “L” in Greek alphabet.
• First letter of the word “Liberation”.
• Was defined as the symbol for “unity, co-operation” by Spartans.
• Romans used it as a symbol for, “light of the glowing knowledge in the darkness of ignorance.”
• Symbol which defines energy in both Physics and Chemistry also becomes the energy source of gay & lesbian movement.
• It is the symbol of synergy created by working for a common aim.

In Grand Larousse:

• Eleventh letter of Greek alphabet, which derived from the Phoenician indicator of lamedh, defines fluid equivalence with “l”.
• Anthropology: Anthropometric triangulation point, where back cranium and two parietal bones at the middle on top of the skull.
• Biochemistry: Lambda chain, one of the two weak chain types of immunologlobulins.
• Entomology: A butterfly whose harmful caterpillar lives generally on the plants of nettles.
• Nuclear Physics: Lambda defines the radioactive constant.
• Wave and Resonance: Lambda defines the wave length.
• Physics: Lambda point, specific heat of liquid helium -4, the maximum temperature observed.
• Thermodynamics: Lambda shows the thermal conductance.

Symbol which takes place with the definitions above is also being used by our group of LGBTT rights in Istanbul.

In addition to that, in the decision of Ankara Republic Attorney Generalship about the demand of banning Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Researches and Solidarity Association, it is asserted that “in Turkish Language Institution dictionary and several other private dictionaries the word “lezbiyen” means homosexual woman and it was originally a French word, and the word “gey” means passive homosexual man and it was originally an English word. In this decision it is stated that those words regularly and comfortably are used in daily life and scientific discussions.