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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 30 2013
Taksim stages exuberant gay pride march joined by Gezi protesters
ISTANBUL
A participant holds a rainbow flag during a gay pride parade in
central Istanbul June 30. REUTERS photo
After a month of protests, Istanbul's Taksim Square braced today for
the 11th gay pride march as thousands of gay rights activists as well
as demonstrators who participated in Gezi Park gatherings marched on
the iconic Ä°stiklal Avenue.
Rainbow flags and banners supporting peace in Turkish, Kurdish,
Armenian and Arabic were displayed.
Some of the banners criticized the comparison of homosexuality with a
disease, as described by former Family Minister Aliye Kavaf. Another
banner read, "I asked Zeki Müren, who told me to resist," in memory of
the legendary and flamboyant Turkish singer who became famous during
the `50s and, although he never admitted to being homosexual, changed
perceptions across Turkey by openly wearing women's clothing and
make-up.
The protesters who have held forums in small neighborhood parks across
Istanbul also joined en mass in the pride march.
Deputies from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP),
including Binnaz Toprak, who was the architect of an inquiry proposal
on the discrimination faced by the LGBT community at the Turkish
Parliament, Å?afak Pavey, Melda Onur and Hüseyin Aygün participated in
the event.
The demonstrators also chanted the name of Medeni Yıldırım, who was
killed in Diyarbakır's Lice district after being shot by soldiers
during a protest denouncing the construction of a gendarmerie outpost.
German Greens co-chair Claudia Roth was also among the participants,
according to daily Hürriyet.
LGBT rights groups have been very active during the protests against
the demolition of Istanbul's Gezi Park that have spread across the
country.
June 30 2013
Taksim stages exuberant gay pride march joined by Gezi protesters
ISTANBUL
A participant holds a rainbow flag during a gay pride parade in
central Istanbul June 30. REUTERS photo
After a month of protests, Istanbul's Taksim Square braced today for
the 11th gay pride march as thousands of gay rights activists as well
as demonstrators who participated in Gezi Park gatherings marched on
the iconic Ä°stiklal Avenue.
Rainbow flags and banners supporting peace in Turkish, Kurdish,
Armenian and Arabic were displayed.
Some of the banners criticized the comparison of homosexuality with a
disease, as described by former Family Minister Aliye Kavaf. Another
banner read, "I asked Zeki Müren, who told me to resist," in memory of
the legendary and flamboyant Turkish singer who became famous during
the `50s and, although he never admitted to being homosexual, changed
perceptions across Turkey by openly wearing women's clothing and
make-up.
The protesters who have held forums in small neighborhood parks across
Istanbul also joined en mass in the pride march.
Deputies from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP),
including Binnaz Toprak, who was the architect of an inquiry proposal
on the discrimination faced by the LGBT community at the Turkish
Parliament, Å?afak Pavey, Melda Onur and Hüseyin Aygün participated in
the event.
The demonstrators also chanted the name of Medeni Yıldırım, who was
killed in Diyarbakır's Lice district after being shot by soldiers
during a protest denouncing the construction of a gendarmerie outpost.
German Greens co-chair Claudia Roth was also among the participants,
according to daily Hürriyet.
LGBT rights groups have been very active during the protests against
the demolition of Istanbul's Gezi Park that have spread across the
country.