Turkish clothing retail giant bans use of rainbows, unicorns and LGBT+ iconography in yet another pitiful anti-queer attack
Hundreds of activists dressed in rainbow clothing. (Raul Arboleda/Getty)
A clothing retail giant in Turkey has banned the use of rainbows, unicorns and other symbols associated with the LGBT+ community in one of the country’s more pitiful anti-queer attacks.
It comes as the country’s president, Recep Erdoğan, as well as lawmakers, religious leaders and heads of major humanitarian agencies, launch scathing broadsides against queer folks.
LC Waikiki administrators, according to local media, sent an email to staffers on Wednesday (July 8) outlining the prohibition under the subject line “Design bans”.
One of the largest textile giants in Turkey bans use of rainbows, unicorns and other LGBT+ images in its clothing.
In the email, the retailer announced that an array of imagery with ties to the LGBT+ community that were used throughout Pride Month – from figures “resembling” LGBT+ people to the rainbow – “should never be used”.
They also asked employees to “decrease the number of colours” used in their lines.
LC Waikiki management were, according to the email, “disturbed” by the amount of visibility the LGBT+ community had during Pride Month.
Apparently, the grand total of 30 days in which people are reminded that not only do LGBT+ people exist, but the community is consistently marginalised and persecuted proved too much for the brand.
After all, Turkish authorities have consistently banned Pride celebrations for several years, often citing security concerns.
News of the ban radiated across Twitter, with humanitarian group HAYDER flagging their support for the ban.
“We thank LC Waikiki,” the charity wrote on Twitter, “who also provides clothing aid to our orphans, who are caring for us every year, for protecting our national, spiritual and family values with his attitude towards LGBT organisations.”
Turkish Red Cross condemns its president over homophobic tweet.
It comes after Kerem Kinik, chairman of the Red Crescent Society of Turkey, said queer people “violate health creation” in a barbed tweet that capped off Pride Month.
The tweet became a lightning rod for criticism from humanitarian charities – one of which Kinik himself serves as president of.
Nevertheless, lawmakers and religious leaders alike have risen to Kimik’s defence, capturing what activists say is a Turkey where it might be legal to be gay, but hostility saturates society.
But Kinik received the thinly-veiled backing of the country’s president, who delivered a venomous speech in which he referred to LGBT+ people as “poison”.
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