Gay March banned in Turkey for the fourth year in a row

ISTANBUL

The governor's office in Istanbul today unauthorized for the fourth consecutive year the march of the gay pride that several collectives summoned for tomorrow in the center of the city of the Bosphorus.

The organizing committee denounced the ban on the constitution because the Turkish Constitution allows each congregation a peaceful citizen without the need for prior authorization and indicated that it would do the march anyway

A communiqué sent by the office of governor to the coordinators of the march indicates that "it does not fit" to organize activities in the open spaces of the central districts "for the probable negative consequences" reports the Turkish daily Evrensel .

Between 2003 and 2014, Istiklal Street, in the center of Istanbul, was the venue of the annual Gay Pride march, always in a joyous, colorful and festive spirit, and increasingly crowded up to # 39 to reach tens of thousands of participants in 2014.

But in 2015, the authorities banned the march saying that the date fell in the month of Ramadan, and that year and in 2016 and 2017, the police it is scattered with tear gas and sometimes water cannons for the militants who have gathered.

This year, Ramadan is over, and the ban does not claim grounds.

In Turkey, homobaduality has been legal since 1858 and in Istanbul and Ankara there is a vibrant gay community with entertainment venues and festivals. of cinema, but in the most conservative sectors of society, represented by the current Islamist government, the homobadual condition is considered an aberration

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