2023-06-25 16:31:49
The LGBTQ+ Pride March once more defied the ban and marched past the police on Sunday in Istanbul, a month following elections marked by a virulent homophobic campaign from the presidential camp.
As every year now, the Pride March had been banned by the governor of the city, but the demonstrators waving rainbow flags gathered several hours before the announced start of the demonstration, in places carefully silenced until at the last moment.
Organizers hailed their “21st Pride Parade despite the ban”.
“We exist, we are here my love! announced the lesbian association Solidarité mauve on Twitter, under a photo of exulting girls.
The organizers reported around forty arrests at the start of the rallies, but this number has not been confirmed by official sources.
Last year more than 200 people were arrested.
Since a spectacular parade that brought together more than 100,000 people in Istanbul in 2014, the Turkish authorities have gradually banned the Pride March, citing security reasons.
Homosexuality, decriminalized in Turkey since the middle of the 19th century (1858), remains largely subject to social opprobrium and the target of hostility from the ruling Islamic-conservative party, the AKP.
Throughout the campaign that led to his re-election on May 28, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stigmatized the LBGTQ+ communities that he copiously whistled until the evening of his victory, accusing them of wanting to destroy the traditional family. .
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