A transgender teacher in Istanbul says a private school terminated her employment after government-aligned media outlets published her former name, photographs and details about her gender transition, the Bianet news website reported.
Zoe Lila said the Açı Schools had coordinated with her for months on how to tell colleagues, students and parents that she would use her new name, and that the process had drawn broad support inside the school community. But she said the school told her on June 24 that her contract would not be renewed after the reports spread and after school officials said they had spoken with government ministries.
Lila, a graduate of Marmara University’s English language teaching department, said she taught middle school English for nearly five years at the private school in Sarıyer, an Istanbul district on the European side of the city. She said she also served as a homeroom adviser and took part in the school’s social responsibility and inclusivity work.
She said she began her gender transition in 2024 and informed her department coordinator and the school principal early in the process. According to Lila, administrators told her the school was committed to human rights principles and would support her.
The school later sought advice from psychiatrists on how to handle the disclosure with students and parents, Lila said. On June 11 she told some 30 to 40 middle school teachers that she would continue her life as Zoe and said colleagues responded supportively.
The following week, the school held classroom guidance activities for fifth and sixth-grade students on discrimination and bullying, Lila said. During the activity, she briefly told students she would use the name Zoe going forward. The same day, the school notified parents of the name change and held an online seminar on gender identity development, she said.
Lila said most parents were supportive and that she continued teaching for several days as students adjusted to her new name. But on a Friday, she said, two guidance counselors came into her classroom and asked her to step outside.
“They asked me, ‘Have you seen the news?’” she said.
Lila said the online reports included her former name, current name, photographs and private information about her transition. She said one image appeared to have come from a class group photo and that a student had been cropped out of it.
“I collected my belongings and left the school without even being able to say goodbye to my students,” she said.
Lila said the coverage spread quickly. She said she later received a death threat from a relative and messages from strangers, and left her home temporarily because she did not feel safe. She said many parents and colleagues continued to send messages of support after the reports were published.
On June 24, one day before the surgery related to her transition, Lila said school officials met with her online. She said the school principal and general director told her they had spoken with officials from Turkey’s Family and Social Services Ministry, Labor and Social Security Ministry and Education Ministry.
Lila said she was told the school had done what it could but would not renew her contract for the next academic year. She said she later received a formal notice ending her employment, along with salary and severance payments.
Her lawyer, Furkan Yurt, said the case involves more than a labor dispute and includes alleged violations of Lila’s privacy, equal treatment and access to employment.
Yurt said lawyers had applied to restrict access to the online reports through both the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and a criminal judge of peace, a Turkish court that can order restrictions on online content. He said prosecutors had also opened an investigation into an alleged violation of Lila’s private life.
Yurt said the legal team had also applied to Turkey’s Human Rights and Equality Institution and the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, the state body that regulates internet access. He said Lila was also seeking reinstatement through a mandatory mediation process, a required first step in many labor disputes in Turkey before a lawsuit can proceed.
The Education Ministry has also opened an inquiry into the school, according to Lila. She said teachers were asked what she told students in class and what the school’s guidance activity had covered.
Lila said the inquiry also appeared to focus on the updating of her name in the ministry’s digital education system, known as MEBBİS, which stores teacher and school records. She said her name had been legally changed by court order before it was updated in the system.
Lila also said teachers were called to give statements as part of what was described to her as a complaint filed through CİMER, Turkey’s presidential communications center, which allows citizens to submit complaints and requests to public institutions.
Yurt said the Education Ministry inquiry had effectively kept Lila out of work while it continued, arguing that she could not realistically work in either public or private education while under review.
Lila said she plans to pursue the case through Turkey’s legal system and, if necessary, apply to the European Court of Human Rights. She said the case should be seen as a broader rights issue for LGBTQ people in education and employment.
“I was an educator yesterday, I am an educator today, and I will be an educator tomorrow,” she said.
