As Turkey’s presidential runoff election nears, incumbent leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has railed against his opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, for his party’s support of protections for LGBTQ people. Tucked in a central Istanbul neighborhood is Queens, a beauty salon that’s popular among the city’s transgender community. The owner reflects on the history of the LGBTQ community in Turkey, and what it’s like for one’s identity to suddenly become an election issue. Durrie Bouscaren reports from Istanbul.
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