Sedef Çakmak

City Council Member of Beşiktaş, Istanbul

Incumbent

Assumed office
2 March 2015
Personal details
Born|  (1982-06-09) 9 June 1982 (age 40)
Political party| Republican People's Party
Residence| Istanbul
Alma mater| Galatasaray University

Sedef Çakmak (born 9 June 1982) is a Turkish politician and LGBT rights activist. She was the first openly homosexual person to be elected into office in Turkey.[1]

## Career[edit]

She grew up in Ankara.[1] Çakmak graduated from Galatasaray University with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology.[2]

She is active in the Turkish LGBT movement since the 2000s. In 2004, she contacted Lambda Istanbul to write a paper for university about LGBT issues in Turkey and through being in contact with other LGBT people, she became aware of her own lesbian identity.[1] Afterwards, she became active in Lambda Istanbul and was a member of their International Relations Commission and their Academical Research Commission.[3] From 2011 to 2013, she co-founded and was the chair of the organisation SPoD LGBTI.[2]

In the 2014 local elections for the city council of Beşiktaş, she ran for office for the Republican People's Party, not disclosing her lesbian sexual orientation and was elected. She accepted her mandate on 2 March 2015. Before that, she had been an advisor to the mayor of Beşiktaş in LGBT issues.[2]

In October 2017, she became the chairwoman of the board of Rainbow Rose, a network of LGBT platforms within the Party of European Socialists.[4]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Yücel, Deniz (2015-06-28). "Istanbul: Gay Pride - Der lesbische Marsch durch die Institutionen". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
2. ^ a b c "LGBTI Activist Sedef Çakmak is now a Municipal Assembly Member". LGBTI NEWS TURKEY. 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
3. ^ "Sedef Cakmak - Global Philanthropy Forum". Global Philanthropy Forum. Archived from the original on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
4. ^ "Bianet: Sedef Çakmak is elected as the Chair of Rainbow Rose". LGBTI NEWS TURKEY. 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2018-08-05.