BREAKING NEWS

Istanbul's LGBT community holds smaller rally after pride march banned

By REUTERS

JULY 1, 2018 22:27

ISTANBUL - Members of Istanbul's gay and transgender community gathered for a rally on Sunday instead of the annual pride march, after they said the parade itself had been banned by the city's governor for the third consecutive year.

The march used to see tens of thousands of people parade down Istanbul's main Istiklal street, but Sunday's rally drew a much smaller crowd.

Just a few hundred people gathered on one of Beyoglu district's side streets, waving rainbow flags and shouting slogans. The organizers said on Friday that Istanbul's governor had banned the pride march.

"Like every year, we are here, on these streets. Our laughter, our exclamations, our slogans still echo in these streets," organizers said in a statement read out during the rally.

"We miss the marches attended by thousands where we celebrate our visibility. We make fun of those who try to place boundaries on us by the pride of our existence and the strength of our pride," it said.

Police dispersed the crowd following the statement but some people continued walking through the streets in smaller groups.

The Istanbul governor was unavailable for comment on Sunday.

Istanbul has traditionally been seen as a relative safe haven by members of the gay community from elsewhere in the region, but although homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, homophobia remains widespread.

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