A lot of people in Turkey have their preconceived notions about trans women in Turkey, although they might not have even met one in real life which gives insight on how media representation and celebrities affect people’s view of trans women. Some newspaper headings from popular newspapers show that the marginal identities were mostly associated with aggressiveness, cruelty, contagious disease (AIDS) (Demir, 2017). In this example media has been used to create an image of trans individuals that separate them from the idea of “normal” in society, associating them with negative stereotypes.

Other representation that is more reflective of reality are films that were used to show trans women’s lives and struggles. An example of this could be the film “Güneşi Gördüm” which shows the conflict between transgenders and customs with the story of Kezban, a Kurdish transvestite, who struggles with her identity in a conservative muslim family (Demir, 2017). She meets other transvestites who play a role in her identity construction as “Kezban” detaching from her deadname “Kadri”, however her family’s traditional beliefs catch up to her as his elder brother does not accept this situation and kills her. The film represents other marginalized identities in Turkey such as immigrants, minorities, poor, women in countryside as well, showing their underrepresented stories (Demir, 2017). The film has been used as a way to give the silenced people a voice and to show their reality to the general public who might have negative preconceived notions about them because of other representations.

Another aspect of trans representation is trans celebrities that have been in the public eye representing their communities. Although considered forbidden in Turkish society, there have been transgender celebrities that were respected and were popularized. This also creates an argument about how queer people are only accepted on stage as it contrasts with how most people with the same identities in society are subjected to heavy discrimination (Duyan, 2022). Important celebrities to mention here are Huysun Virjin(Wicked Virgin) who was a zenne (female impersonator) and Bülent Ersoy who is an arabesque singer. Huysuz Virjin was played by Seyfi Dursunoğlu, the character took aspects of both East and West and merged them with traditional Turkish genres of entertainment. A unique aspect of their performances was how they dressed up as a woman and disregarded tabood by talking dirty and making obscene ,sexual jokes basically creating an image of a woman who was shameless (Duyan, 2022). This granted visibility to a role that would otherwise not be tolerated in Turkish society and the show was applauded by audiences although it was done by a cross-dresser (Duyan, 2022).

Another queer celebrity is Bülent Ersoy who is one of the first Turkish trans woman to undergo a sex change, and the very first one to ask for a female passport (Duyan, 2022). She went through her transition completely in the public eye as she was famous as a singer before her tradition. She, however, never supported other trans women or publicly spoke up about queer issues at all, instead she chose to present herself as a conservative Muslim and only worked on her own transition. By proclaiming her identity as a Muslim woman, she rejected a queer identity while also rejecting modernity and instead of denying established gender roles she decided to embrace them to be accepted into society as a woman (Duyan, 2022).

The common aspect of both examples is that they are applauded and respected by the audience regardless of their identity. This can be explained by the fact that these examples never claimed queerness, and instead pushed forward their identities as conservatives and Muslims which made them become more digestible for society and “normal” and lets them fit into a society where they would be shunned from otherwise. As political shifts in Turkey continued to happen from secularism to conservatism, the queer celebrity image has changed with it as Islamic discourse increased in every aspect of life. Some queer celebrities have started using Islamic discourse such as Durmaz, Ciğerci and Övünç to become social media celebrities during the period of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey (Duyan, 2022). Durmaz is gay, Ciğerci is transgender, Övüç is bisexual and although they don’t conform to societal rules they have used conservative discourse to achieve a public image (Duyan, 2022). However, unlike these celebrities, many queer and trans people are not as visible to the public eye as they are pushed to sex work to be able to support themselves.

References:
Demir, S. T. (2017). Watching marginal bodies: Representation of the transgender identity on Turkish media. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 13(14), 45. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2017.v13n14p45
Duyan, Y. (2022). From sacrificing sister to Star sister: The history of queer celebrity in Turkey. Celebrity Studies, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2022.2140565
Photos:
https://alikarnasgtm.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/gunesi-gordum-2009/
https://boboscope.com/icerik/bir-goc-hikayesi-gunesi-gordum
https://www.themagger.com/huysuz-virjin-seyfi-dursunoglu-kimdir/
https://onedio.com/haber/bulent-ersoy-un-cinsiyet-degistirme-ameliyati-oncesindeki-ask-hayati-996508