Ankara’s Rainbow Venues Mapped

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Venues where you won’t be subjected to discriminative, homophobic and transphobic attitudes in Ankara have been mapped.

Kaos GL Association has marked the venues qualified to be safe place for LGBTIs in Çankaya district with the project titled “Map of Fear and Secure Areas for LGBTIs Project”. Furthermore, rainbow stickers have been stick on the doors of these venues.

There are cafes, pubs, haircutters and beauty parlors among the rainbow venues.

It might spread to other cities

Gözde Demirbilek from Kaos GL said that the work undertaken in Çankaya is a first step to spread the rainbow mapping all over Turkey.

“We chose Çankaya as the first step where the LGBTIs use most frequently in Ankara. This might be deemed as a preliminary project to spread the work to other cities”.

Homophobic venues were visited

A survey has been conducted with the participation of 732 LGBTIs living in Çankaya within the scope of the project run by KaosGL Youth Group and supported by Young Woman Fund of Community Volunteers Association. The participants told the venues where they faced and didn’t face discrimination.

The project workers went to the venues with their attorneys where LGBTIs were subjected to discriminatory attitudes.

Demirbilek conveyed that the venue owners mostly reacted positively and they told her that they will actualize works to inform their employees.

The project aims to popularize the venues where LGBTIs use freely and without any worry, and encourage other venues to join anti-transphobic and anti-homophobic movement by taking this situation as example. (ÇT/TK)