经济学人下载:土耳其人的恐同症(1)

The government investigates those who object to homophobia 

政府调查反同性恋者

Stuck at home during Ramadan because of covid-19, Turks at least have something new to argue about. In a sermon marking the start of the holy month on April 24th, Ali Erbas, the country's top religious official, proclaimed that Islam condemned homosexuality "because it brought illnesses and generational decay". 

在斋月期间，由于新冠肺炎滞留家中的土耳其人，至少有一些新鲜事可以争论。在4月24日斋月开始的一次布道中，土耳其最高宗教官员阿里埃尔巴斯宣称，伊斯兰教谴责同性恋，“因为它招致疾病和一代代的衰退”。

After human-rights groups, some opposition politicians and the Ankara Bar Association accused Mr Erbas of inciting hatred, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters rushed to the cleric's defence. One of his flacks said Mr Erbas could not be faulted for voicing "di vine judgment". Another accused his critics of Islamophobia. "An attack against the head of the Diyanet is an attack on the state," Mr Erdogan himself warned, referring to the institution Mr Erbas has headed since 2017. "What he said was completely true." The same day, state prosecutors launched an investigation—against the Ankara Bar. 

在人权组织、一些反对派政界人士，以及安卡拉律师协会，指责埃尔巴斯煽动仇恨之后，土耳其总统埃尔多安和其支持者纷纷为这位神职人员辩护。他的一个口头禅是说，埃尔巴斯不能因为发表了“不利于同性恋群体的意见”而受到指责。另一人指责他的批评者仇视伊斯兰教。埃尔多安本人警告称，“对宗教事务局领导人的攻击是对国家的攻击”，他指的是埃尔巴斯自2017年以来领导的机构。“他说的完全是真的。”就在同一天，国家检察官对安卡拉律师事务所展开了一项调查。

Scripturally speaking, Mr Erbas had a point. The Koran takes a dim view of homosexuals (not to mention atheists, drinkers and women who disobey their husbands). But though homosexuality is outlawed in most other Muslim countries and punished by death in a few, it is not a crime in constitutionally secular Turkey. The Diyanet, which runs the country's 90,000 mosques, provides religious guidance, but has no power to impose its prescriptions. 

从圣经经文来看，埃尔巴斯先生说中了一点。《古兰经》对同性恋者（更不用说无神论者、酒鬼和违抗丈夫的女性）持模糊的看法。但是，尽管同性恋在大多数其他穆斯林国家是非法的，在少数几个国家还会被处以死刑，但对于世俗化的土耳其来说，同性恋并不是犯罪。经营着该国9万座清真寺的宗教事务局，提供宗教指导，但无权下达命令。

LGBT groups have never had it easy in Turkey, though prejudice seems to be on the wane. As recently as 2012, a whopping 85% of Turks said they did not want to have a gay neighbour. 

在土耳其，同性恋者团体的生活从来没有轻松过，尽管人们的偏见似乎正在逐渐减弱。就在2012年，高达85%的土耳其人说他们不希望邻居是同性恋。