Yasemin Öz

Yasemin Öz is a Turkish lawyer and LGBT rights activist. Whilst studying law, she founded KAOS GL and writes reports monitoring human rights issues in Turkey. Öz participates in UN Women groups and was given the Felipa de Souza award by OutRight Action International in 2013.

Early life

Yasemin Öz studied law at the Ankara University. She joined a group of students who met to discuss LGBTIQ issues. In 1994, the group became KAOS GL, the Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Turkish: Kaos Gey ve Lezbiyen Kültürel Araştırmalar ve Dayanışma Derneği). KAOS GL is now a leading LGBT organisation in Turkey.[1]

Career

Öz graduated in 1997 and started to work as a lawyer, whilst continuing her activism with KAOS GL. She also took cases for the organisation, helping it to gain legal status as a foundation in 2005 and appealing the censorship of a magazine focusing upon the experiences of Turkish transwomen.[1] Öz writes reports on human rights issues in Turkey. She authored one about transphobia and homophobia for the Danish Institute of Human Rights and produces an annual report for KAOS GL monitoring discrimination against LGBTIQ people.[2][1] In 2015, she drafted "LGBTI People’s Freedom of Expression on the Internet" (Turkish: LGBTİ’lerin İnternet Yoluyla İfade Özgürlüğü).[3]

Öz participates in the UN Women LGBTI Informal Reference Group and Europe and Central Asia Civil Society Advisory Group.[4] She has also supported the campaign of academic Pınar Selek against prosecution for an explosion in Istanbul in 1998.[5] She was given the Felipa de Souza award by OutRight Action International in 2013.[6] Öz describes herself as a lesbian feminist.[7]

References
  1. Tunali, Tan (30 June 2020). "Defending Human Rights in Turkey: Yasemin Öz". Netherlands Helsinki Committee. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  2. Heymann, Jody; Sprague, Aleta; Raub, Amy (2020). Advancing Equality: How Constitutional Rights Can Make a Difference Worldwide. University of California Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-520-30963-0. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  3. "Kaos GL publishes "LGBTI People's Freedom of Expression on the Internet" Report". LGBTI NEWS TURKEY. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. "Lecturers and Experts – Monitoring the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons". Global Campus of Human Rights – GCHR. Retrieved 7 August 2020. She was selected to UN Women ECACSAG (Europe and Central Asia Civil Society Advisory Group) in 2015 and to UN Women LGBTI Informal Reference Group in 2017.
  5. Leach, Anna (15 April 2013). "Turkish LGBT activist Yasemin Oz wins human rights award". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. "CHP'li vekile ABD'li eşcinsellerden ödül [US homosexual award for CHP deputy]". Star. Turkey. 11 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. Köse, Aslı Öktener (13 August 2013). "Yasemin Öz: Eşcinsel olmak seçilebilseydi, kimse bu kadar zulmü ve şiddeti seçmezdi [Yasemin Öz: If being a homosexual were a choice, nobody would choose this much oppression and violence]". T24. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
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