Opposition-run Istanbul Municipality’s bookstore sells anti-LGBTI+ books

The bookstore owned by the main opposition CHP-led Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has been selling several publications that spread hate against the LGBTI+ community while removing books targeted by anti-LGBTI+ groups from its shelves.

Monday February 05 2024 08:44 pm

This collage shows books sold in the municipality's bookstore, titled "The Health Hazards of the Homosexual Lifestyle," "A Guide for Parents on Preventing Homosexuality in Young People," and "The Corrosive Impact of Transgender Ideology."

Duvar English

Istanbul Kitapçısı, a bookstore owned by the main opposition Republican People’s Party led Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, has been selling several anti-LGBTI+ themed books, according to reporting of the Ankara-based University Queer Research and LGBTI+ Solidarity Association (UniKuir).

Among the array of books available for sale on the bookstore's website, one notable title was "The Corrosive Impact of Transgender Ideology," translated by Nevzat Tarhan, a proponent anti-LGBTI+ figure trying to "cure homosexuality."

Additionally, Musta Merter’s "Last Tango with Hekaton" was featured in the website, where he draws a parallel between "LGBTI+ ideology" and "pedophilia." In his book published with the subtitle "A Meta Analysis of the Global Project of Destroying the Family and Restructuring Humanity", Merter proposed concepts regarding sexual orientation and gender identity as a "monster.” Merter stated that he deemed LGBTI+ visibility "a war against humanity.”

Other publications encompassed "The Great Danger Facing Today's Youth: Different Sexual Identity Orientations," prepared by the organizers of the anti-LGBTI+ hate rallies known as the Big Family Gathering, and "The Health Hazards of the Homosexual Lifestyle," which portrays being LGBTI+ as a condition requiring “correction.”

"A Guide for Parents on Preventing Homosexuality in Young People" can be found on the bookstore's website.

Further books available in the catalog of the municipality-run bookstore included "A Guide for Parents on Preventing Homosexuality in Young People," and "Reparative Therapy for Male Homosexuals."

While the books frequently equated LGBTI+ individuals with "pedophilia," they also claimed that LGBTI+ visibility is an imposition of a "global conspiracy.” LGBTI+ student clubs were targeted in the book prepared by the hate groups in which academics from various Turkish university contributed.

The municipality’s bookstore had stopped the sale of the book series Les goûters philo (Çıtır Çıtır Felsefe in Turkish) written by French author Brigitte Labbé for children, following smear campaign in social media and pro-government media.