Education bosses in Turkey order children to stop drawing rainbows in case they turn people gay
Schools in Turkey have reportedly been told to stop children from drawing rainbows (Twitter/@SPoDLGBTI)
Children in Turkey have reportedly been ordered to stop drawing rainbows as authorities believe it is part of a “plot” to turn them gay.
Turkey has seen a sharp spike in homophobia following a televised anti-LGBT+ sermon by the head of religious affairs to mark the beginning of Ramadan.
His inflammatory comments about homosexuality “corrupting generations” encouraged a wave of hate speech blaming LGBT+ people for poisoning the youth.
It has now culminated in education officials ordering schools to prevent children from drawing rainbows, which are supposedly a symbol of LGBT+ “perversion”.
The rainbows were being displayed in windows as a symbol of hope for those in isolation, following a trend seen in many countries affected by coronavirus.
The art museum Istanbul Modern encouraged children across Turkey to take part and displayed the paintings and drawings on their website.
But the innocent initiative was stopped in its tracks by the Turkish education ministry, which warned schools not to be fooled by perverts, JPost reports.
Egitim-Sen, a teachers’ trade union, confirmed to Al-Monitor that some local education directorates had called on school principals not to allow children to participate in the project, saying it was an LGBT+ “plot to turn children gay”.
According to the Turkish human rights lawyer Güley Bor, the teachers who encouraged the rainbows were accused of spreading “LGBT+ propaganda”.
In response, LGBT+ people hit back with rainbows of their own.
Gökkuşağı hepimizin, tıpkı boyalar ve renkler gibi! Kim derdi ki gökkuşağı üzerinden yine LGBTİ+fobik cümlelerle karşılaşağımızı. Okullar tarafından ebeveynlere gökkuşağı çizmemeleri yönünde “uyarıda” bulunulduğunu gördük. Gökkuşaklarımızla biz de #EvdeKal diyoruz! Peki sen? pic.twitter.com/WJyF05kdIW
— SPoD LGBTİ (@spodlgbti) March 31, 2020
“There is no colour of hate in the rainbow!” tweeted advocacy group SPoD LGBTI.
“Rainbow pictures hung by children in the windows of their homes warmed all of us. For this reason, we own the beautiful rainbow with our own paints and say once again #Stayathome.”
Unfortunately, the bigotry over innocent rainbows hasn’t been confined to Turkey.
There have been several reports of people in the UK objecting to the heartwarming trend, including one parent who insisted the rainbow was “a weapon” and complained that seeing the drawings was making them “feel like s**t”.
Another person was so irked by the sight of the colourful drawings that they contacted their MP with a request that he urgently address the “the rainbow crisis” that is a conspiracy to sexualise children.
Unfortunately for the constituent, that MP happened to be the SNP’s John Nicholson, an openly gay man who politely yet firmly explained that they were talking utter nonsense.
“No amount of cajoling, threatening, or persecution makes heterosexuals gay or homosexuals straight. In my own case, I knew that I was gay from an early age,” he said.
After making it clear that “sexual orientation is inherent, not taught”, he concluded his response: “So let the NHS fly the rainbow flag, I say. Schools too. I’ll encourage them at every turn. And I hope, perhaps, that we’ll produce a happier and less angry generation than yours or mine.
“But if, by any chance, you do manage to find a link between rainbows and sexual orientation, get on to the Nobel Prize Committee without delay. You’ll be a shoo in.”
