Edurevue 's List: Belgium

Belgian textbook insults Turkey’s founder Atatürk  Following the broadcast of videos with explicit content about Atatürk by a Greek youth on the famous Internet site youtube.com, Belgium has engaged in similar infamy by listing Atatürk among the important homosexual and bisexual personalities of history.   A book by the minister of education of the province of Valon in Belgium and distributed to all schools in the province claims that Atatürk was one of history's important and famous homosexual or bisexual figures   Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was included on a list of "Famous homosexuals and bisexuals in history" on the 105th page of the 144-page book titled, "Fight Against Homophobia." The small book, prepared at the instructions of Valon Education Minister Marie Arena and distributed to all students in primary and secondary education, emphasizes that homosexuality is not actually a negative thing and that there were many famous and important homosexual or bisexual people in history.  Today’s Zaman’s efforts to reach Marie Arena proved fruitless. It is unknown what source this information was based on, though it will certainly spark harsh reactions in Turkey. A leading paper in Belgium, De Standaard, covered the issue and in a related report wrote that Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, was included on the list and noted that it was yet unknown whether the Turkish Embassy in Belgium was aware of the incident.   Belgium is one of the few countries in the world that grants its citizens the right to same-sex marriages and child adoption by homosexual couples. It is stated that the distribution of the book was aimed at “enlightening the future of the young generation in Belgium” and informing them correctly by giving information on the history of homosexuality and the general sociocultural perception in regard to homosexuality. The book also touches on the equality of women and discusses the viewpoints of other societies regarding homosexuality, with an aim to prevent

A book by the minister of education of the province of Valon in Belgium and distributed to all schools in the province claims that Atatürk was one of history's important and famous homosexual or bisexual figures.