Episode 3: Being a queer person in Turkey

Our guest is Nilsu, a high school student from Turkey. She identifies as a lesbian-questioning unlabelled queer person. She explained what it means and how it feels to be a queer person in a predominantly Muslim country. She mentioned several cases of discrimination and bullying she encountered in her environment. Although she believes that she is a privileged queer person because of having a rather respectful and inclusive family and social environment, she scathingly condemned the government’s brutal stance against the queer community. We discussed the incumbent government’s inhumane treatment of LGBTQ+ people and labeling them undermining nouns. She is a true inspiration for the queer people in Turkey who are unable to speak up for themselves and are intimidated by society’s reaction. She encouraged them not to be afraid to embrace themselves and reiterated that it is not their fault that they think and feel differently than the customary way.