Turkish footballer Taylan Antalyalı becomes target of homophobes for wearing Pride t-shirt

Galatasaray midfielder Taylan Antalyalı has become a target of homophobes for wearing a Pride-themed t-shirt. His name became a trending topic on Twitter, as thousands also shared tweets to back him.

Monday June 28 2021 02:49 pm

Duvar English

Turkish footballer Taylan Antalyalı has become a target of homophobes for wearing a Pride-themed t-shirt.

Antalyalı, who plays as a midfielder for Galatasaray, shared a picture of himself wearing a t-shirt that said, "Powered by Pride" on June 27, prompting homophobes to call for his removal from the Turkish national football team.

During a program aired on broadcaster TV100, sports commentators Emre Bol and Turgay Demir, who claimed that everyone has to respect the traditions and values of the country they're living in.

Demir also said that Antalyalı "should not be a bad example" to children.

"We should not normalize these things," Bol said.

Turkey's LGBTQI+ community often becomes the target of hate speech, with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu calling them "perverted" earlier this year. At around the same time, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised his party's youth for not being LGBTQI+.

Most recently, Turkish police brutally dispersed the Pride march in Istanbul and carried out detentions.

Antalyalı's name, meanwhile, became a trending topic on Twitter on June 28, as thousands, including from sports media, shared messages to support the midfielder.