Itâs going to be a lonely fall for Turkish gays now that the government has banned and blocked gay dating app Grindr.
Both the appâs online database and website have been censored by the 14th Criminal Court of Istanbul as a âprotection measure.â According to Hayriye Kara, a lawyer with Turkish LGBT association KAOS GL: âThe court decision is not published online and so we have no access to the procuration and therefore do not yet know what was the reason for the censorship. It is most likely related to âgeneral moralityâ, an ambiguous term used often against trans sex workers.â
Users, when trying to access the site, are met with the following message:
The decision no 2013/406 dated 26/08/2013, which is given about this website (grindr.com) within the context of protection measure, of â?stanbul Anadolu 14. Sulh CMâ (?stanbul Anatolia 14th Criminal Court of Peace) has been implemented by âTelekomĂźnikasyon ?leti?im Ba?kanl???â (Telecommunications Communication Presidency).
KAOS GLâs Media Coordinator Ămer Akpinar called the courtâs action âthe last step in arbitrary limitations of freedom in Turkey. Any lifestyle or identity, which does not fit to the stateâs ideology, is being deprived of their rights and freedoms. The Turkish government, through Ministry of Family and Social Policies, uses the discourse on the âtraditional heterosexual familyâ increasingly as a pretext to suppress LGBT rights.â
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In a statement, Grindr CEO Joel Simkhai said he was âvery upsetâ about the Grindr block and hoped that it was only temporary as âGrindr was created to help facilitate the connection between gay men â especially in countries where the LGBT community is oppressed.â
Charles
Its not like theres other hook up apps out there, unless Grinder was the most and only used app and Turkey.
Charles
@Charles: and was supposed to be in đ
Fitz
No Grinder and no Kadershines! it’s a good thing!
TV101
Hhaaa. Good I can mark Turkey OFF my travel list. Though I must say… Grindr is so tiring to type on this small screen = Annoying. THought i must say at straight clubs — its awesome.
erikwm
Thankfully Istanbul didn’t get the 2020 Olympics.
krystalkleer
grindr is like meth…eventually it just makes you look bad!
http://getoffmydress.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-king-of-all-queens.html
Polaro
Another example why it is important to separate church morality from laws.