Bar Association’s LGBTI Film Screening Banned, Lawyers Watch Movie on Phone

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Ankara Governorship has banned Ankara Bar Association Human Rights Center’s LGBTI+ short film screening. The governorship justified its decision by “social sensitivities”.

Two buses of riot squad forces around Ankara Bar Association Training Center (ABEM) where the event would be held.

Lawyers have protested the ban by watching the movies on their cell phones.

What happened?

Ankara Governorship banned the events to be held by “LGBTI NGOs” indefinitely on the pretext of “public morality” and “social sensitivity and sensibilities” on November 19. 

The Governorship banned German LGBTI Film Days on November following some tweets posted with the hashtags #LGBTFilmGünleriİptalEdilsin (#MayLGBTFilmDaysBeCancelled) and #İstiklalimizeKaraLeke (#BlackMarkOnOurFreedom).

The 11th leg of the Gender-Based Journalism Workshop carried out by the International Press Service (IPS) Communication Foundation with the support of Kaos GL, was cancelled as well as it was targeted by the media. The workshop was planned to be held on November 18, in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin. (ÇT/TK)