[News/Film] [Turkey] Portrayal of transgenders in Turkish films, or lack thereof

[Stephanie Stevens]

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey


July/02/2012

Portrayal of transgenders in Turkish films, or lack thereof

EMRAH GULER

ANKARA - Hurriyet Daily News


This week marked Pride Week for LGBT communities. Turkey might be more
accepting and tolerant of the first three letters of the LGBT
communities, but when it comes to transgender people, not so much

[Photo: ‘Zenne’ is based on the true story of Ahmet Yildiz, a gay man
gunned down by his father in 2008 after coming out to his family.]

Thousands marched yesterday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, proudly
waving the rainbow flag as they brought an end to a month of pride.
June is the month when we see pictures adorned with the colors of the
rainbow and even more colorful LGBT communities walking together
across the world to celebrate pride.

The idea behind the celebration of pride is to commemorate the 1969
Stonewall riots that kick-started the gay rights movement in the
United States, and more so, remind the status quo that gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender communities demand an end to ostracization
and equal rights.

While we’re used to seeing pictures from Western countries of
over-the-top celebrations of pride, carefully picked by the media to
marginalize the events, Turkey itself is not new to Pride Week, which
concludes with the Pride Parade.

The very first Pride Week was organized in 1993 when various panels
and events took place behind close doors because the Istanbul
Governor’s Office had denied permission for more high-profile
activities. It wasn’t until a decade later that Pride Week would close
with a parade that was attended by a mere 30 people. The number
increased exponentially each year, with around 10,000 people gathering
and marching against homophobia and transphobia last year. But to the
mainstream media, it’s still a marginal event that does not have much
news value.

Transvestism as comedy

Turkey might be more accepting and tolerant of the first three letters
of the LGBT communities, but when it comes to transgender people, not
so much. This year, Trans Pride Week was a separate event, ending with
a Trans Pride Parade that was held for the third time. The event was
tenser than hoped for as a nationalist group attempted to attack the
parade.

In fact, trans communities almost always come lowest in a hierarchy
where the right to justice, ostracization and fair representation are
concerned. Turkish cinema is no exception, with transgender characters
either used for comic relief or serving to reinforce their image as
bitter sex workers – that is, if we are talking about male-to-female
transvestites or transsexuality.

Veteran film critic and historian Agah Ozguc identifies the very first
trans character in Turkish cinema in director Muhsin Ertugrul’s 1923
work “Leblebici Horhor,” in which the male lead dresses like a woman
to save his girlfriend.

In the following decades, until the 1980s, stories in which men
dressed as women were almost unanimously seen in comedies. In the
Turkish version of Billy Wilder’s timeless classic “Some Like It Hot,”
two popular actors, Sadri Alisik and Izzet Gunay, dress as women to
escape the mafia before falling for the same girl. Perhaps the last
example of transvestism used as a source of comedy came in 1984 with
one of the most popular comedies in Turkish cinema, “Sabaniye,” in
which the central plot revolves around men dressing as women to hide
their identities.

‘Other Angels’ and ‘Zenne Dancer’

The much-publicized sex change of Turkish singer Bulent Ersoy in the
1980s marked the first film in Turkish cinema to feature a story of a
transsexual going back to his childhood, 1980’s “Beddua” (Damning), in
which Ersoy starred as the leading character.

In 1993’s “Gece, Melek ve Bizim Cocuklar” (The Night, the Angel and
Our Gang), late director Atif Yilmaz takes a heart-wrenching look at
sex workers in Istanbul. It is one of the first films that came
closest to portraying transgender characters as more than merely
cardboard characters.

Director, writer, producer Emre Yalgin’s debut feature of 2010,
“Teslimiyet” (Other Angels), was at once a brave attempt to shine a
light on the lives of the transgender community in Istanbul, with LGBT
activists both starring in the movie and as part of the crew.

Perhaps the most popular Turkish movie that put a range of diverse
LGBT characters at its center was this year’s “Zenne” (Zenne Dancer).
The word zenne meaning a male dancer dressed up as a woman, and
directors Mehmet Binay and M. Caner Alper’s film featured an
out-and-about flamboyant dancer.

“Zenne” was based on the true story of Ahmet Yildiz, a gay man gunned
down by his father in 2008 after coming out to them.

“It’s a very special film for us,” said Umut Guner, spokesperson for
Kaos GL, an LGBT organization, and writer for the Kaos GL magazine.
“It brought to screen some of the important issues for the LGBT cause
such as hate crimes, and the complications for gay men [in trying to
avoid] mandatory military service.”

Let’s hope that “Zenne” has opened the way for a more realistic
portrayal of LGBT characters.


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