The 9th Internet Governance Forum on 2 -5 September 2014 was held in Istanbul, a city where many lovers from various countries spend their honey moon. People write poems about the blue sea, Sultanahmet mosque and the evil eye. Romantic dinners on the night cruise illuminated by colorful lights, reflected from the Bosphorus Bridge.
But in Turkey, when it comes to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) relationships, they are often not considered love. Same sex relationships are still overshadowed by certain norms. Grindr an application for gay men looking for dates, partners, friends or political organizing is blocked by Istanbul’s Criminal Court of Peace as a ‘protective measure’, which many see as a tightening of social freedoms by the conservative Turkish government. An LGBTIQ human rights organization in Turkey called Kaos GL, in collaboration with the founder and CEO Grinder, continue to advocate for the right to free access to information.
Likewise, in Indonesia, LGBTIQ sites have been blocked since 2011. In Istanbul, the EROTICS Indonesia delegation launched its exploratory research book Queering Internet Governance in Indonesia at IGF 2014. The research explores the relation between internet governance and LGBTIQ rights in Indonesia. This includes the important role of the internet for the advancement of LGBTIQ rights, documenting the discrimination and violence which happens online towards LGBTIQ, advocacy process on the LGBTIQ sites blockage, and recommendations for multi-stakeholder internet governance in Indonesia.
Read the full article in GenderIT.org .
Image by gaelx used under Creative Commons license