İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week Begins on June 25

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26th İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week will be realized from June 25 to July 1, 2018.

Theme of the Pride Week this years “Restriction”. Saying that, “We don’t accept our identities, orientations, existence being restricted with various excuses”, Pride Week volunteers are calling for everybody to act in solidarity to realize the Pride Week despite bans.

Meeting their costs fort he week by means of crowdsourcing in the past years, an Indiegogo campaign has been launched this year for Pride Week events. With the Indiegogo campaign that will last a month, only 4 percent of the budget for the week could be collected.

What is there in the Pride Week?

Ways of forming a stronger solidarity and organizing different means of resistance will be sought with the forums, panels and screenings about LGBTI movement’s agenda during 26th İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week.

Events such as panels, workshops, film screenings, theater plays in accordance with the theme will be organized within the scope of open and free events during the week.  There is also going to be meeting where LGBTI organizations from different cities will come together.

26th İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week program will be announced in the upcoming days.

Theme: Restriction

The Pride Week was organized with the theme “Memory” on its 20th year; “Resistance” on 21st year; “Contact” on 22nd year; “Normal” on 23rd year; “We are being organized” on 24th year, “What is There Among Us” on 25th year.

About İstanbul Pride Parade

Being organized for the first time in 1993 under the name of “Sexual Freedom”, the week, its events and Pride Parade were banned by the governorship; activists were detained and the guest from abroad were deported. The pride week has confronted prohibitions in the later years as well but events have continued to be organized.

First İstanbul Pride Parade was held in 2003, which is 10 years after when the Pride Week started to be organized. The first parade held with 20-30 people has grown in time. In 2013, as many as 100,000 people joined the march on İstiklal Street.

In 2015 and 2016, the Pride Parades met with police interventions. However, being persistent, the LGBTI+ movement “dispersed” to first whole İstiklal Street and then to various places in İstanbul.