The research project - known as LGBT2020 - has today added Turkey to the more than 20 countries where it measures a diverse range of aspects of the lives of LGBT people.

The addition of Turkey is part of the study's growing reach across the globe. 

"It was really important to include Turkey in the Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study," said Ian Johnson, Founder and CEO of Out Now. "This is a country where our estimates indicate that more than 3 million people are lesbian or gay, and yet very little is known about their lives. What levels of discrimination do LGBT people face in Turkey? How many feel able to be open about their sexuality to come out at work, or with their family members or with their friends? How many of these people are in relationships? What kinds of leisure and lifestyle factors apply in metrics from the LGBT community in Turkey? These - and many other questions - are ones we hope to answer in this new LGBT2020 research in Turkey".

The LGBT2020 Study is a deliberately groundbreaking research project that is devised and implemented by the world's leading LGBT marketing organization - Out Now Global. Now underway in twelve languages and covering countries where more than a third of the world's population lives, the LGBT2020 Study is the most extensive market research study ever on LGBT issues. The project commenced in 2009 and now reaches across the globe. 

In Turkey the study is working with local partners Communiwit - a marketing firm that helps companies to understand market niches. 

"We are pleased to take part in such an important research project", said Burcu Türkmen Eryılmaz, Founder and CEO of CommuniWit. "We are very excited to be a part of the biggest research ever made on LGBT matters," Eryılmaz said. "It will help us to understand the true position of the LGBT community in Turkey, as measured by social issues as well as their actual contribution to the Turkish economy. The voice of the LGBT community is not heard enough in our country, and we hope that they will become more recognized as a result of this LGBT2020 research".

Johnson said he was aware that this new study in Turkey was reaching into a demographically diverse group of LGBT people: "Out Now undertakes this kind of work in many markets around the world, including Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia. Along with our sample currently underway in Israel, our goal with the LGBT2020 project is to provide a global benchmark reference for government, non-government organisations, companies, media, and others - to better understand the needs of one of the least understood, and most misrepresented, groups in the region. With the new findings from the LGBT2020 study in Turkey we are looking forward to making sure that the needs of LGBT people start to be considered by a broad range of stakeholders in society".

"Out Now consistently strives to make sure that the needs of LGBT people, no matter where they live, become better understood – and met – by those organizations that serve them," Johnson added. "We think it may be quite a challenge to reach gay people in Turkey but we are looking forward to doing so'.  

FURTHER INFORMATION: 

Turkish language version of this release is online at http://www.outnowconsulting.com/latest-updates/press-centre/tuerkiye'in-ilk-lgbt-pazar-araştırması-başlıyor 

The 'Out Now Global LGBT2020 Study' is a ten year program of research and is the world's most comprehensive LGBT research project. In 2012 the study is sampling gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in 12 languages from 24 countries on 6 continents on many aspects of their lives. From LGBT travel and tourism patterns, lifestyle habits, consumer expenditure, incomes, spending, discrimination and entertainment preferences - the LGBT2020 project is a groundbreaking project from Out Now.

Out Now is working with LGBT community groups and organizations, media partners and social networks to provide the broadest possible sample from the LGBT2020 research study.

In 2010 almost 40,000 respondents from around the world participated in the LGBT2020 study. The LGBT2020 Study enjoys strong support from industry with sponsors including Lloyds TSB Banking Group, Turespaña and German National Tourist Office.

Countries sampled in 2012 for the LGBT2020 research report now include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
In English:
Ian Johnson, CEO, Out Now
The Hague, Netherlands
info@outnowconsulting.com 

In Turkish:
Burcu Türkmen Eryılmaz, Founder and CEO of CommuniWit
Istanbul, Turkey
burcu@communiwit.com

ABOUT OUT NOW: Established in 1992, Out Now is the world's leading LGBT marketing organization and has for two decades been relied upon by many of the world's leading brands, organizations and tourism bodies for specialized gay and lesbian marketing insight and expertise. Working in more than 25 countries around the globe, Out Now is the international local specialist LGBT marketing agency in each of the markets in which it operates.

Services include research, training, strategy and communications. Out Now clients include German National Tourist Office, TUI, Lufthansa, Berlin Tourism Marketing, Vienna Tourist Board, Visit Manchester, Stockholm Visitors Board, HotelREZ and many non-travel industry clients including IBM, Toyota, Citibank and Lloyds TSB Banking Group. 

Out Now is the creator of the world's leading tourism industry training and certification program GayComfort www.GayComfort.com which is relied upon by the world's leading destinations to deliver genuinely gay-welcoming levels of customer service in locations around the globe.

More information is available at http://www.BetterLGBTMarketing.com and http://www.OutNowConsulting.com

The LGBT2020 Turkish survey is live online now at http://www.outnowconsulting.com/lgbt2020

ABOUT COMMUNIWIT: Established in 2010, CommuniWit has become a fast growing company preferred by leading international companies as a result of its creative marketing research solutions. Along with offline projects, CommuniWit is the first company in Turkey which offers online qualitative researches and custom-designed online workshops.

Besides its marketing research specialty, CommuniWit also supports its clients by providing them with consulting and insights ready to become actions.

More information is available at http://www.communiwit.com

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