22/06/2025 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
"Every slogan we chanted in Ankara today is a call not just to this city, but to the entire region. We invite everyone, every LGBTI+ individual, every person of conscience, to join this struggle."
LGBTI+ people raised their voices of resistance in the streets of Ankara. Dozens gathered for the Ankara Pride March and managed to march despite police pressure.
LGBTI+ rights defenders, carrying a banner that read “We are writing history not with your bans, but with our pride,” marched with rainbow and trans flags. Throughout the march, chants like “Where are you, my love?”, “Long live life in defiance of hate,” and “Biji berxwedana lubunya” were frequently heard.
Although the police tried to block the march, LGBTI+ people read their press statements while marching and then dispersed.
The Pride Week Committee said the following in their press statement:
“We Are Here, We Are Everywhere: We Resist with Our Pride!
Today, we came together in the streets of Ankara. We are here to defend our lives that are sought to be made invisible, our identities that are being suppressed, our existences that are being targeted. Despite bans, despite hate politics, despite systematic violence, we shout once again: LGBTI+ people are an equal, dignified, and indispensable part of this society. The state's increasingly harsh exclusionary policies; hate campaigns targeting LGBTI+ people, practices that deny trans people’s right to life, the unpunished violence directed at sex workers… all of these threaten not only our identities but our right to live. But we are not silent. We are not afraid. We are not alone. Because we are an organized LGBTI+ movement. This year, once again, we entered Pride Week under bans and restrictions. But let it be known: we existed in the streets, we grew in the streets, we resisted in the streets. There is a trace of LGBTI+ people in every inch of this country, every street, every square. Today, from here in Ankara, we send heartfelt greetings to the Trans Pride March in Istanbul. Endless greetings to all the LGBTI+ people who refuse to abandon the streets despite all obstacles, who resist, who defend life and existence! We will not lose one more person. We will not take a step back. We will never give up on each other. Walking in the streets with our rainbow flag is not a crime, it is a matter of pride. Being trans is not a disease, it is an identity. Sex work is not a crime, it is labor. And love is resistance in itself. If real peace is to be established on these lands, that peace will include LGBTI+ people too. And we know: peace will come, LGBTI+ people will return. Pride will win, life will win. Every slogan we chanted in Ankara today is a call not only to this city but to the entire region. We invite everyone, every LGBTI+ person, every person of conscience to join this struggle. Because this is not just a fight for identity; This is the defense of life itself. Long live LGBTI+ resistance! Long live Pride Week! Long live life!”
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