7th Pride Parade Held in Boğaziçi University

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Organized by the LGBTI+ Studies Club as part of the 7th Pride Week, the 7th Pride Parade was held in Boğaziçi University on April 17.

As reported by Aslı Alpar from the Ankara-based Kaos GL Association, being held for the seventh time this year, the Boğaziçi University Pride Parade started at the South Campus. During the parade, students also raised their concerns over the "indefinite ban on all LGBTI events" imposed by the Governorship of Ankara since November 2017.

'We bring along METU Pride Parade to everywhere'

Meeting at the South Campus for the 7th Pride Parade, carried the banner,

"You said, 'It is banned' in Ankara and we have brought along the METU [Middle East Technical University] Pride Parade to everywhere."

'You cannot keep us away from streets'

A statement for the press was also read out during the parade. Some highlights from the statement were as follows:

"Our Pride Parades are one of the biggest, multivocal and mass demonstrations this country has witnessed. In our parades, We are standing up to this dark period, which has fallen to our share in the history of the world, with our love and desire.

"We are calling them to account for our abducted, killed friends, we are taking our destiny from the hands of others, we are envisioning our future.

"We are defending peace against war, courage against fear; we are showing that another world, sexuality, body, life is possible. We are the ones who declare the revolution of love and gender. We are the ones who are excluded, overlooked, we are the ones who are undaunted.

"We are not alone, we are not wrong and we have certainly not given up. Threats, bans and pressures are nothing to us. Despite your bans, you cannot keep us away from the streets, avenues, squares... You cannot keep us away from life despite your bans.

"We want to underline once again that we are not in some part of the city and this school, we are in each and every part of them. We want to raise our voices not for a single day, but everyday." (EMK/SD)

* Photographs: Beyaz Kılar