Turkish opposition party leader Temel Karamollaoğlu yet again targets LGBTI+s

Turkish Islamist opposition Felicity Party (SP) leader Temel Karamollaoğlu has targeted LGBTI+ families in his speech at the party’s provincial assembly, by stating that same-sex couples are not families and are "degenerating" the family notion.

Duvar English

Turkish Islamist opposition Felicity Party (SP) leader Temel Karamollaoğlu on March 26 targeted LGBTI+ families in his speech at the party’s provincial assembly, according to online news outlet KaosGL.

Speaking on the issue of "family," Karamollaoğlu used discriminating language against same-sex couples and said, "If the concept of family breaks down, you cannot sustain society. We cannot consent to the degeneration of the concept of family. The family consists of a man, a woman and children. We do not accept how two men or two women can create a family.”

This is not the first time the Islamist leader targeted the LGBTI+ community. Speaking to Habertürk's Nihal Bengisu Karaca on Dec. 31, 2022, he had said: "LGBTI+s are a handful of people. If you look at the fuss they make, you would think that 90 percent of humanity is like them, but in reality, they are a handful of people.” In the same speech, he had also implied that LGBTI+s are detrimental to civilization by destroying family values. 

Karamollaoğlu had also thrown his support behind anti-LGBTQ rallies organized last year and said in another speech: “What is this gender issue? The family consists of a man and a woman. Two men cannot form a family, it's called perversion."

Erdoğan leads in presidential race, outperforms expectations Google excessively recommends pro-government media outlets Half of Turkish men own gun, says foundation THY dismisses pilot for opposing regulation on praying in cockpit Turkey lifts visa requirement for six countries Family left homeless after landlord increases rent by five-fold