The 17th LGBTT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transsexual) Pride Week ended with a Pride March in Taksim, central Istanbul, on Sunday (28 June).
The crowd gathered around a huge rainbow flag in Taksim Square, and was first prevented from marching by the police. The crowd protested against the police by shouting slogans for around an hour.
The police then allowed the crowd to march "without placards or slogans". Among them were singer Hande Yener, Stuart Milk, nephew of first openly gay politician Harvey Milk, writer Esmahan Aykol, feminist psychiatrist and rights activist Şahika Yüksel, doctor and rights activist Mustafa Sütlaş, as well as representatives of the German Green Party, MP Ska Keller and Mechthild Rawert from the German Social Democratic Party (SDP).
"A different world is possible"
The demonstrators shouted slogans such as "Don't be silent, shout it out, homosexuals exist", "barricades for murderers, not for homosexuals", "Whose morals are 'general morals'?", "A different world is possible", "Homosexuals will not remain silent", etc.
The crowd walked until Galatasaray Square with slogans and songs. They carried placards reading "We are neither wrong nor alone", "We are here, get used to it", "If morals mean oppression and violence, then we are immoral", and "Find the murderers of Ahmet Yıldız", the last referring to the murder of a young homosexual man.
Against LGBTT phobias, discrimination and hatred
The march ended with a press statement in front of Galatasaray Highschool.
"In 17 years, many things have changed, we have gained a lot, paid a lot, suffered a lot. We continued and will continue our struggle."
"We shout out in the name of sex workers who risk their lives because they are denied the right to work, in the name of women who are the first to be dismissed in times of crisis, in the name of homosexuals and bisexuals who are denied the right to work when revealing their identity, in the name of transvestites and transsexuals who are counted as unemployed but are not given work. You can keep your 'general morals', your homophobia, your biphobia and your transphobia, we want a life without hatred and anger."
The press statement also mentioned the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. (EZÖ/AG)
For pictures of the march click here.