Before transitioning, Michelle Demishevich was fired from her job as a newspaper journalist in Izmir, Turkey. Now nearly 15 years later she has been hired by Turkish TV channel IMC as a reporter. 

'I have heard of trans columnists but I am the first trans TV reporter in Turkey,' Demishevich said to Bianet.org about her dream come true.

A trans woman attacked four days ago in Turkey has died.

The victim was reportedly a resident of the Meis district, where complaints of police violence and pressure from local residents have been reported since October 2012.

According to Rozerin Seap Kip, lawyer for Social Policies, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association in Turkey (SPoD), the victim was heavily beaten up four days ago. She died yesterday at a hospital in Bakirköy, Istanbul.

An Istanbul court of the first instance delivered a landmark ruling saying that gay sex is natural, contradicting a previous ruling by Turkey's supreme court.

Yesterday’s (18 February) ruling regarded a trader who was caught selling 125 DVDs of gay and group sex porn.

The person, known only by his initials, DM, 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.

Celebrity Turkish gay fashion designer, Barbaros Şansal, was seriously beaten last night (27 December) in İstanbul, Turkey.

Şansal is well known in Turkey for being an outspoken gay activist and for his use of witty language.

According to daily Hurriyet, the attack, which took place in Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, had a political motive.

A top footballer says he cannot be homophobic because of his haircut.

Raul Meireles, a former Chelsea footballer now playing for Istanbul-based club Fenerbahce, was suspended for 11 games after being found guilty of spitting at the referee.

The referee Halis Ozkahya also accused the Portugal international player of not only spitting at him, but also directing a ‘gay gesture’ in his direction.

Istanbul’s Trans Pride March on Sunday was caught in an altercation with a right-wing march scheduled for the same time in the same place.

Hundreds of transgenders and their supporters gathered in Taksim Square in Istanbul for the third annual Trans Pride March.

The march was supposed to start at 5pm, an hour after another march by right-wing groups in the same square to protest about the attacks by the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party) on Turkish soldiers.

A transgender woman who was attacked in Istanbul earlier this week has told Gay Star News that she thinks the incident was designed to scare her off an upcoming court trial with the police.

On the 7 May last year Michelle Demishevich was cornered by five men with a gun on the street when she was on her way to a friend's birthday party. She says one of the men put the gun in her mouth and shouted violent transphobic abuse at her, threatening to kill her.

Following successful experiences in the UK, Schools Out is sending its campaigners abroad to exchange ideas and experiences with other educators and students about challenging homophobia in the classroom.

The organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans equality in education uses training tools to combat homophobia and institutional heterosexism.

Sexual identity and homophobia in modern-day Turkey are brought to the fore in ZENNE Dancer, a new film directed by Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay.

Drawing inspiration from the 2008 killing of Abmet Yildiz, the film is representative of 'the systematic violence and discrimination faced by Turkey’s LGBT community'.