Ersoy’s victory established an enduring contradiction in Turkish public life: extreme, reverent adoration for one specific trans woman alongside widespread vulnerability for almost everyone else. As international reporting from outlets like Haaretz documented in surveys of trans identity across the region, ordinary trans women in Istanbul’s neighborhoods faced police harassment, family rejection, and workplace discrimination, even as Ersoy held court as a revered judge on prime-time television.
Ersoy never saw herself as a standard-bearer for grassroots LGBT+ activism. She does not join marches, rarely references trans civil rights campaigns, and rejects Western queer activist framing. Instead, she presents herself through deeply conservative, traditional values. She openly embraces orthodox Turkish nationalism, displays Islamic piety, dresses in opulent couture, and speaks an ornate, Ottoman-infused Turkish that commands immediate deference from politicians and judges.
During the 2000s and 2010s, as rights organizations documented hate crimes across major cities, Ersoy sat on prime-time judging panels for shows like Popstar Alaturka. When she made headlines, it was rarely for identity politics. In 2008, while serving as a live judge, she opposed the Turkish military's ground operation in Northern Iraq, stating on air: "If I had given birth to a child, I would not send him to death for someone else's war." The state prosecutor promptly indicted her under Article 318 for alienating the public from military service. True to form, she appeared in court dripping in diamonds, defended her position with Ottoman legal rhetoric, and was acquitted.
