Turkish Bear Killed In Turkish Hate Crime - Gays Not Safe In Turkey

Ahmet Yildiz, a 26 year old physics student represented his country at the International Bear Rendezvous, a gay gathering in San Francisco last year. Ahmet was shot and killed outside a cafe in Istanbul in what his friends believe was Turkey's first gay honor killing.

I received word via my friend Kaptainbear, a Frenchman who was a close friend of Ahmet. The news of his death highlights the problems Turkey is having moving into the modern world. Secularists are having a hard time fighting for human rights and because of the strife between Islamic Fundamentalists and the secular government of Turkey, things have gotten tough for the gay community.

Ahmet's death shows just how violent religious fundamentalism can be. If we ever begin to think that our country is so much better, just remember the shooting in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. That hate crime was fueled by religious fundamentalism as well, the only difference was one man read the Koran and the other read the King James Bible.