LGBT Pride Week in Turkey in June

The date of the 17th Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual (LGBTT) Pride Week in Turkey has been announced.

Starting on 22 June, there will be workshops, panels, films and theatre performances, as well as concerts and parties.

For the fifth time, the Hormone Tomatoes awards will be presented in order to draw attention to homophobia and transphobia.

The week will end with a Pride March on Istiklal Street in Istanbul on 28 March.

In the last years, the programme has been supported by many rights activists, politicians, singers and lawyers, from Turkey and abroad.

This year’s programme is focusing on the right to organise, on the presence of LGBTT in cities, visibility in the public sphere, hate murders and rights violations.

Details of the programme of this year’s Pride Week, of which bianet is a press sponsor, will be announced soon.

Who would you give a tomato?

A survey to find this years recipients for the Hormone Tomatoes awards. is being carried out by the lambdaistanbul organisation.

In previous years, institutions like the Turkish Armed Forces, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and the Vakit newspaper, as well as individuals from show business, politics, and journalism have been nominated.

Origin of "Pride"

The word pride is used as an antonym for shame, which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons throughout history. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of ones self and the community as a whole. The modern "pride" movement began after the "Stonewall riots" of the late 1960s. Instead of backing down to unconstitutional raids by New York Police, gay men in local bars fought back. While it was a violent situation it also gave the underground community the first sense of communal pride in a very well publicized incident. From the yearly parade that commemorated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots began a national grassroots movement. Today many countries around the world celebrate LGBT pride.(BÇ/AG)

*This article made use of Wikipedia

*Click here for pictures of the 2008 Pride March.