The human rights of LGBT people in Turkey is one of the more controversial human rights issues in Turkey. As Turkey is a secular republic currently in accession talks with the European Union, homosexuality is not illegal. But despite the widespread veneration received by famous and well-respected gay and transgender artists like Zeki Müren and Bülent Ersoy over the years, an open expression of homosexuality by ordinary people remains somehow a taboo topic in public opinion. Starting from the 1990s, recent years saw the active efforts of several civil rights groups, which ask for better recognition and anti-discrimination laws.