Gays face discrimination in Turkey....

393 gay people were surveyed in Istanbul.

* 38 percent of the 393 participants were women, and 62 percent were men. 83 percent hide from some or all of their immediate family that they are homosexuals or bisexuals. 70 percent are faced with pressure to get married.

* 88 percent of the 268 participants who work, hide their sexual orientation from all or some of their employers, bosses, or coworkers. 10 percent of the 242 male participants were forced to go to a brothel.

* 63 percent are forced to pretend that they have a lover of opposite sex. 23 percent are faced with physical violence because of their sexual orientation. 87 percent are faced with at least one form of social violence, such as verbal abuse or exclusion.

* 62 percent of the 27 men who applied for military exemption, were asked to undergo anal examination, and 29 percent were asked to present photographs of sexual intercourse. When coming clean about their sexual orientation, 66 percent were asked, "Are you sure?" 52 percent were told to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, 75 percent was told they don't look like 'them' (homosexuals) and 50 percent were forced to change the subject.

* 33 percent of the 178 participants who have been to a psychologist or psychiatrist, go because others want them to. 67 percent were forced by their psychologist or psychiatrist to become a heterosexual, to use medication, or were given false information about homosexuality.

When will the gay community in North America start to organize to help our brothers and sisters in Muslim countries?