ISTANBUL, Turkey — A Turkish Court ruled Monday that gay sex is “natural,” contradicting a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals in a similar case last year.
Ruling in a case of a vendor charged with unlawful sale of 125 DVDs depicting gay and group sex pornography, Judge Mahmut Erdemli stated that an individual’s sexual orientation should be respected, and cited examples of same-sex marriages in Europe and in the Americas.
The defendant, identified solely by his initials, DM, had faced up to four years imprisonment according to article 262/2 of the Turkish penal code that prohibits owning, trafficking, distributing and publishing “unnatural sex” videos.
Erdemli’s ruling on Monday counters last year’s decision by the appellate court that said video or photographic depictions of gay sex were “unnatural.”
“Today, it is possible to have gay marriages in modern countries. International regulations prohibit discrimination regarding peoples’ sexual preference, and it is therefore an obligation to respect their sexual orientation,” Erdemli said. “In this respect, most of the European countries see gay relationships as equivalent to marriage.”
Erdemli added that contemporary societies allow same-sex couples “to achieve this legal status and therefore the contents of the DVDs can not be seen as unnatural.”
Erdemli did, however rule that the videos that depicted necrophilia and bestiality were correctly classified as “unnatural,” and found the defendant guilty of “unauthorized” sale of pornography. He imposed an 8 month sentence on the defendant.
Filed under: Europe
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Coming from a Muslim country it’s a great step.
Wow, we are now behind the Turks in progressiveness.
It is natural for whom is gay.. Thanks for agonizing that.
hmm…somehow the islamic fundamentalists will not be happy with this. turkey is secular and has been since the 20s but we have to look at iran to know that all they need is the rise of islamic fundamentalism to change all of that.
Another welcome step forward
Turkish law is moving so fast. Honor killings were criminalized and murder and church law does not power the state. (Blasphemy charges) and now this is okay. I have high hopes for Turkey.
Finally they opened their eyes and viewed humanity
Wow, way to go Turkey.
Turkey rocks! Wonderful country. Wonderful people. And progressive modern Muslims.
Back on the list of countries to visit…???
<3
not until they admit to the Armenian Genocide in 1915.
good job. at this rate, it may be only a few a centuries before gay people are recognized as equal human beings in the middle east
Wow!
… It-IS! THANK-you-TURKEY! PROGRESS!!!
I am not shocked to hear this from Turkey, while yes, they are a Muslim country but if you ever been to Turkey or talked to a Turk. You will notice it feels like a European nation than a middle eastern one.
Really! For Turkey this is a big step forward!
A huge leap…applause for respect of individuals’ right.
Just ask T.E. Lawrence.
Pup Equality McKeenan: like… the USA admits to genocide of native peoples? seems likely.
Wow! Go Turkey!!!
And BTW, the judge was right, necrophilia IS unnatural!