I thought to make an
interview with our friends after their wedding, because I wanted to know their
point of view, their feelings about all that.
Here I publish now what
I was talking with Ekin Keser and Emrullah Tzn, the two Turkish friends of us
who had the first gay marriage in Turkey on the 2nd of September, on a boat,
on the Bosphorus with about 80 participants. I had this chat with them two days
after the wedding day.
Before I share with
you this, I’d like to give you a little context. I got to know Ekin at the
beginning of May, 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey. From the first moment he was very open about
his sexual orientation (which surprised me in this socio-cultural environment)
of course it was not just this but something more which called my attention and
I invited him to our meetings of Silo’s Message to the “salita”. From the first
time (and ever since) he always brought his friends to our meetings every week.
The first one whom he brought was his couple, Emrullah. From the very beginning
it was clear that they want to get marry, but it seemed impossible in Turkey, so they wanted to leave the country. Than
Nacho mentioned to Ekin it is not impossible to get marry in Turkey and showed him the marriage ceremony in Silo’s
message book. I have never seen such happiness and relief as on Ekin’s face about
this news and soon they decided to get marry with Silo’s Message ceremony, here
in Turkey, in Istanbul. While some months passed, we did several
ceremonies with Ekin and Emrullah and their friends in the salita, their
intention became stronger. It was always present in every meeting, in every
chat of us. We talked about it, we had lot of fun about it. They decided the
date and the place and circumstances. Eduardo accompanied them step by step and
helped them to clarify the image and all the necessary things. When they had
the invitation in their hands the process started. They stepped out into the
public with this invitation and started to invite friends and family members. I
had the opportunity to go with them to invite some of their friends. All of
them was surprised but happy for this news. I thought to share this process
will make our conversation more understandable.
Lastly I would like to
mention, but probably you know about the fact that in Turkey gay marriage is not legalised.
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How did you feel in this marriage?
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Ekin: I felt lot of emotions. I saw that people are happy and I felt
their love for us.
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What was the difference for you in this marriage and a traditional
marriage here in Turkey?
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Ekin: There was no bride. ( laughing) Our friends wished us really to be
happy. This was not done by the state it was done by two human being’s feelings
and emotions. It was based on true feelings and emotions. Some of our friends
told us that they saw two people who fit together. Also after the Well being
ceremony one of my friends told me it was the first time in his life that he
really felt relaxed.
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And you, Emrullah how did you feel there?
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Emrullah: It was very nice. I felt it was very good to start with the
Well being ceremony and to read it before the Marriage ceremony. I felt that the
people could calm down inside and outside after this ceremony. They sent us
energy, but they didn’t know about that. And after the two ceremonies all people
were so happy and enjoyed the night with us.
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Ekin: Ever since we receive messages with congratulations and they are
also interested about how we did it. So
we wrote them about Silo’s Message and the meaning of the ceremony. We are very
happy and we are very grateful for Silo’s Message and for its community. I feel
that after this event we can talk easier about the Message with many people. We
hope that more people will come to the meetings of the Message. We would like
to spread out this widly, for many people. At this moment we are waiting for
the video what was made on the wedding and we would like to make a massive
spreading out of this in LGBT area.
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Were you afraid of anything?
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Ekin: No I was only very excited, that’s why my legs were permanently
shaking.
Emrullah: No, I wasn’t.
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What did your friends told you, when you invited them?
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Ekin: They said that, it is dangerous and they thought it would be very
difficult for us. But I think maybe the next gay marriage will be easier.
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What was the most important for you in this marriage?
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Emrullah: That we could do it with Silo’s Message. And we could do it
with true feelings, we could make a marriage with emotions, otherwise it would
be only a party.
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Ekin: We would like to say thank you for Silo’s Message that it was
possible and we want more people to know about Silo’s Message. And maybe later
all these people will be non-violent.
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Would you like to say something for those who would like to do the same
that you did?
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Ekin: Don’t be afraid! Never. If you want to do something, do it! What
ever you do, do it with true feelings.
Emrullah: It is not difficult at all! If
you want to do it, just do it! We had trust in Silo’s Message community and we did
it. You don’t need the state or an office, just your feelings.
Juli
