Turkish Army Demands Proof Of Gayness

The Turkish Army grants a waiver of the mandatory service requirement if you are gay. But you have to prove it to them.

Ahmet, a young man in his 20s, told officials he was gay at the first opportunity after he was called up, as he and other conscripts underwent a health check. "They asked me if I liked football, whether I wore woman's clothes or used woman's perfume," he says. "I had a few days' beard and I am a masculine guy - they told me I didn't look like a normal gay man." He was then asked to provide a picture of himself dressed as a woman "I refused this request," he says. "But I made them another offer, which they accepted." Instead he gave them a photograph of himself kissing another man. Ahmet hopes this will give him what he needs - a "pink certificate", which will declare him homosexual and therefore exempt from military service.

Photo requirement: "The face must be visible, and the photos must show you as the passive partner." The above-linked BBC News report notes that civilian Turkish employers are allowed to ask the army about such waivers.