28/07/2025 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
The university administration decided to shut down the club. It targeted the terms “gender,” “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity” in the statute as well as the club’s activities, stating that they “promote gay and lesbian sexual orientations.”
Hacettepe Queer Studies Club was shut down by the university administration. The Student Clubs Establishment and Functioning Commission stated that it had evaluated “complaints about the club” and decided to close it.
In the Commission’s decision, it was alleged that the club’s activities and its members “engaged in actions and behaviors that disrupt public order by opposing religious, national, and social values,” and “acted against social harmony.” It was also claimed that students engaged in violent acts, and that this “negatively affected the peace, security, and respect-based educational and social environment on campus,” further alleging that “other students no longer felt safe.”
The concepts of “gender,” “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity” included in the statute were targeted
The Commission targeted the expressions “gender,” “sexual orientation,” and “gender identity” included in the club’s statute, as well as its stated objectives such as “carrying out activities where individuals with gender identities and sexual orientations can freely express themselves,” “researching issues based on gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation and developing proposals for solutions,” “examining the problems, policies, and outcomes related to gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation,” and “redefining gender from a different perspective and conducting studies in this field.”
The Commission also described the club’s events as “activities that promote gay and lesbian sexual orientations.”
The Symposium on the Protection of the Family was cited as the reason for the shutdown
In addition, the report claimed that on the day of the “Symposium on the Protection and Strengthening of the Family,” held on campus this year, students from the club threatened security guards and attempted to forcibly enter the building where the symposium was taking place. The investigation launched by the university administration against the students became the official reason for shutting down the club.
On April 28, the “Symposium on the Protection and Strengthening of the Family,” organized by Hacettepe University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, was protested by students. The university’s private security unit (ÖGB) attacked Hacettepe students who reacted to the symposium, which was held as part of the “Year of the Family” campaign targeting women and LGBTI+ people. Riot police also entered the Beytepe Campus.
The decision stated that “the purpose of higher education is to raise students who are filled with love for the family”
In the shutdown decision, referring to the Higher Education Law, it was stated that the purpose of higher education is “to raise students who prioritize the public interest over personal gain and who are filled with love for family, country, and nation.” It was asserted that the club was in violation of higher education regulations, and it was decided by majority vote to shut down the club.
The club had been shut down before, but the closure decision was found to be “against the law”
The club was also shut down in 2023 on the grounds that it was “inactive.” The closure decision was taken to court, and the 4th Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Ankara Regional Administrative Court ruled that the regulations cited as grounds for shutting down the club were contrary to the principles of the rule of law and annulled the decision.
UniKuir, which announced the court’s decision to the public, said, “Closing QueerDeer wasn’t the end; justice has prevailed in favor of the queer community, as we are now seeing its remnants.”
Tags: human rights, life, education, family
