Watch: These people wanted to buy a turtle… until they were told it was ‘gay’
The Turkey branch of Amnesty International is showing up stigma – with a hidden camera stunt in a pet shop.
Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey for over 150 years – but LGBT people still face a strong stigma, and have little legal protection or rights.
Uluslararası Af Örgütü Türkiy (Amnesty International Turkey) set up a stunt at a pet shop in the country, to show people’s bizarre reactions.
In the clip, a range of people are shown looking at the turtles in the turtle tank.
However, when they ask about them, the pet shop owner dutifully informs them that the turtle is homosexual.
Incredibly, despite being entirely made up, this puts a lot of the people off.
One women asks: “Hmm… is it contagious?”
A man is shocked to hear “there’s things like that with them too”, and asks if the pet shop any “decent ones” instead.
The pet shop owner insists: “That one’s decent too. He is completely healthy and fine.”
But the man replies: “Healthy? But you said he is gay!”
Many of the prospective buyers storm out of the shop, while one women says “I need to talk to my children before deciding”.
However, not everyone is so bothered to find out about the turtle’s supposed sexual orientation.
One couple decide to take the ‘gay’ turtle regardless, adding: “It’s not a problem… we’ll be giving it away as a gift anyway.”
Remember: a gay turtle is for life, and not just for Christmas.
