The 13th Annual LGBT Pride Events in Istanbul
The 13th annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride events will take place in Istanbul between June 23 and July 2, 2006. This is the first year that gay pride events will take place for longer than a week.
This year’s celebrations will be kicked off with a cocktail party on June 23, 2006 Friday and the LGBT community will march through Istikal Street in the Istanbul suburb of Beyoglu on Sunday, followed by the handing out of the 2nd Hormone Tomato Homophobe Awards, targeting homophobic Turkish press coverage. The celebrations will include symposia and a dance party.
The Turkish government has had a difficult relationship with LGBT communities in the past, but the prospect of Turkey’s entry into the European Union has forced the government to confront their human rights situation. The Turkish government is secular, but rules over a largely Islamic population.
HISTORY OF PRIDE EVENTS IN TURKEY:
The Christopher Street Day Sexual Liberation Activities, a gay and lesbian pride conference in Istanbul originally scheduled for July 2-6, 1993, was banned at the last minute by the governor of Istanbul, apparently on the grounds that it would be contrary to Turkey's traditions and moral values and that it might disturb the peace. This was despite the fact that the Interior Ministry had previously provided the organizers approval to conduct the event. The governor allegedly sent his agents to many hotels in Istanbul, instructing them not to provide lodgings to the participants. The next day, Turkish authorities detained 28 foreign delegates. At the time of their arrest, most of the detainees were in transit to a press conference in protest of the ban. They were detained for over five hours, threatened with possible strip searches and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests, and deported on a Turkish airliner to Germany.
The most striking result of this event was the immediate establishment of Lambda Istanbul, which, to this day, remains one of the most active LGBT organizations in Turkey. Right after the Istanbul city government banned the conference, a group of gays and lesbians, formerly named "Gokkusagi" (Rainbow), renamed themselves “Lambda Istanbul”. The group’s first activity was to work with other organizations seeking to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Working with Turkey’s AIDS Prevention Society, Lambda Istanbul prepared the first safe sex brochure that directly addressed gay men. Lambda Istanbul became a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in 1993.
But things have changed since 1993. Now such repression would be almost inconceivable. With the prospect of European Union membership, Turkish LGBT organizations, such as Lambda Istanbul in Istanbul and Kaos GL in Ankara, have begun to benefit from relaxed censorship and a more open civil society. In 2001, Kaos GL participated in the May Day labor demonstrations in Ankara under its own banner and signs. This was the first time that Turkish homosexuals participated in a public forum. It also paved the way for Lambda Istanbul to join the May Day labor demonstrations in Istanbul in 2002 for the first time.
In June 2003, Lambda Istanbul celebrated its tenth Gay Pride week and the anniversary of its establishment. For the first time in Turkey’s history, about 50 gays and lesbians marched down Istiklal Street in Istanbul and issued a press statement at the end of the parade. The press statement pointed out that “The Right to Live Proud” is an indispensable part of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The statement also indicated the problems Turkish gays and lesbians continue to face in their lives. Other events followed the parade, including the traditional pride party, the showing of the legendary movie “Stonewall”, a symposium and a poetry recital. Since 2003, Lambda Istanbul in Istanbul has been organizing Pride events every year.
SCHEDULE OF GAY PRIDE 2006 in ISTANBUL
June 23, 2006 Friday
19:30 Opening Dinner
place: Rehberler Odasý Lokali
June 24, 2006 Saturday
15:00 Presentation: "Hinterland" Taner CEYLAN
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
June 25, 2006 Sunday
15:00 Conversation + Movie: "Human Rights of Transvestites and Transsexuals"
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
June 26, 2006 Monday
19:30 Presentation: "Unbearable Lightness of Sexuality" Zeynep Günsur
plce: Rumeli Han - Nnaco
June 27, 2006 Tuesday
20:00 Theater: "The Other" (“Other Lives” Theatre Group)
place: Rumeli Han – Oyuncular Coffee House
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
19:30 Presentation: "Our Problems, with statistics" (Lambdaistanbul Survey Results)
place: T.M.M.O.B.( Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects)
June 29, 2006 Thursday
20:00 Theater: "The Other" (“Other Lives” Theatre Group)
place: Rumeli Han - Oyuncular Coffee House
June 30, 2006 Friday
15:00 "LGBTT Teachers Venue"
place: Lambdaistanbul Cultural Center
19:00 Movie: "Yossi ve Jagger"
place: Lambdaistanbul Cultural Center
22:00 Party
place: Klub Karaoke - Fetish Hall*
July 1, 2006 Saturday
15:00 Gay Pride Parade + "Hormonlu Domates" Awards**
place: Taksim Square
18:00 Evaluation of the Parade
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
19:00 Movie: Stonewall
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
July 2, 2006
"Picnic"
place: Emirgan Korusu
(be ready in Lambda at 10 am for the journey)
PS1: All activities are free of charge except dinner and party
PS2: Journalists are welcome the Pride Parade and “Hormonlu Domates” Awards
PS3: “Hormonlu Domates” Awards are for people or organization which acted negatively toward LGBTT between July 2005 and June 2006. The winners will be determined by the voting going on in Lambdaistanbul’s website. (we are sorry, it is in Turkish)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Karakedi Cultural Center is located at Istiklal Caddesi, Buyukparmakkapi Sokak, No:8 K:4 Beyoglu, Istanbul.
Lambda Istanbul’s contact information:
Address: Istiklal Caddesi, Buyukparmakkapi Sokak, Halas Ap., No: 20/4, Kat:3 Beyoglu - Istanbul
Tel/Fax: 0212 245 70 68 (between 15:00 - 20:00)
Web site: http://www.lambdaistanbul.org
E-mail: lambda@lambdaistanbul.org
This year’s celebrations will be kicked off with a cocktail party on June 23, 2006 Friday and the LGBT community will march through Istikal Street in the Istanbul suburb of Beyoglu on Sunday, followed by the handing out of the 2nd Hormone Tomato Homophobe Awards, targeting homophobic Turkish press coverage. The celebrations will include symposia and a dance party.
The Turkish government has had a difficult relationship with LGBT communities in the past, but the prospect of Turkey’s entry into the European Union has forced the government to confront their human rights situation. The Turkish government is secular, but rules over a largely Islamic population.
HISTORY OF PRIDE EVENTS IN TURKEY:
The Christopher Street Day Sexual Liberation Activities, a gay and lesbian pride conference in Istanbul originally scheduled for July 2-6, 1993, was banned at the last minute by the governor of Istanbul, apparently on the grounds that it would be contrary to Turkey's traditions and moral values and that it might disturb the peace. This was despite the fact that the Interior Ministry had previously provided the organizers approval to conduct the event. The governor allegedly sent his agents to many hotels in Istanbul, instructing them not to provide lodgings to the participants. The next day, Turkish authorities detained 28 foreign delegates. At the time of their arrest, most of the detainees were in transit to a press conference in protest of the ban. They were detained for over five hours, threatened with possible strip searches and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) tests, and deported on a Turkish airliner to Germany.
The most striking result of this event was the immediate establishment of Lambda Istanbul, which, to this day, remains one of the most active LGBT organizations in Turkey. Right after the Istanbul city government banned the conference, a group of gays and lesbians, formerly named "Gokkusagi" (Rainbow), renamed themselves “Lambda Istanbul”. The group’s first activity was to work with other organizations seeking to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Working with Turkey’s AIDS Prevention Society, Lambda Istanbul prepared the first safe sex brochure that directly addressed gay men. Lambda Istanbul became a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) in 1993.
But things have changed since 1993. Now such repression would be almost inconceivable. With the prospect of European Union membership, Turkish LGBT organizations, such as Lambda Istanbul in Istanbul and Kaos GL in Ankara, have begun to benefit from relaxed censorship and a more open civil society. In 2001, Kaos GL participated in the May Day labor demonstrations in Ankara under its own banner and signs. This was the first time that Turkish homosexuals participated in a public forum. It also paved the way for Lambda Istanbul to join the May Day labor demonstrations in Istanbul in 2002 for the first time.
In June 2003, Lambda Istanbul celebrated its tenth Gay Pride week and the anniversary of its establishment. For the first time in Turkey’s history, about 50 gays and lesbians marched down Istiklal Street in Istanbul and issued a press statement at the end of the parade. The press statement pointed out that “The Right to Live Proud” is an indispensable part of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The statement also indicated the problems Turkish gays and lesbians continue to face in their lives. Other events followed the parade, including the traditional pride party, the showing of the legendary movie “Stonewall”, a symposium and a poetry recital. Since 2003, Lambda Istanbul in Istanbul has been organizing Pride events every year.
SCHEDULE OF GAY PRIDE 2006 in ISTANBUL
June 23, 2006 Friday
19:30 Opening Dinner
place: Rehberler Odasý Lokali
June 24, 2006 Saturday
15:00 Presentation: "Hinterland" Taner CEYLAN
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
June 25, 2006 Sunday
15:00 Conversation + Movie: "Human Rights of Transvestites and Transsexuals"
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
June 26, 2006 Monday
19:30 Presentation: "Unbearable Lightness of Sexuality" Zeynep Günsur
plce: Rumeli Han - Nnaco
June 27, 2006 Tuesday
20:00 Theater: "The Other" (“Other Lives” Theatre Group)
place: Rumeli Han – Oyuncular Coffee House
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
19:30 Presentation: "Our Problems, with statistics" (Lambdaistanbul Survey Results)
place: T.M.M.O.B.( Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects)
June 29, 2006 Thursday
20:00 Theater: "The Other" (“Other Lives” Theatre Group)
place: Rumeli Han - Oyuncular Coffee House
June 30, 2006 Friday
15:00 "LGBTT Teachers Venue"
place: Lambdaistanbul Cultural Center
19:00 Movie: "Yossi ve Jagger"
place: Lambdaistanbul Cultural Center
22:00 Party
place: Klub Karaoke - Fetish Hall*
July 1, 2006 Saturday
15:00 Gay Pride Parade + "Hormonlu Domates" Awards**
place: Taksim Square
18:00 Evaluation of the Parade
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
19:00 Movie: Stonewall
place: Karakedi Cultural Center
July 2, 2006
"Picnic"
place: Emirgan Korusu
(be ready in Lambda at 10 am for the journey)
PS1: All activities are free of charge except dinner and party
PS2: Journalists are welcome the Pride Parade and “Hormonlu Domates” Awards
PS3: “Hormonlu Domates” Awards are for people or organization which acted negatively toward LGBTT between July 2005 and June 2006. The winners will be determined by the voting going on in Lambdaistanbul’s website. (we are sorry, it is in Turkish)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Karakedi Cultural Center is located at Istiklal Caddesi, Buyukparmakkapi Sokak, No:8 K:4 Beyoglu, Istanbul.
Lambda Istanbul’s contact information:
Address: Istiklal Caddesi, Buyukparmakkapi Sokak, Halas Ap., No: 20/4, Kat:3 Beyoglu - Istanbul
Tel/Fax: 0212 245 70 68 (between 15:00 - 20:00)
Web site: http://www.lambdaistanbul.org
E-mail: lambda@lambdaistanbul.org
