Turkish Police Attack Pride Marchers

Backlash attacks?

By Melanie Nathan,  June 28, 2015.

In stark contrast to Pride celebrations in the United States,  where being lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender was celebrated with joy and a focus on recent equality victories, the Pride parade held in Turkey was marred by police violence against the thousands of LGBT people and allies who marched in Istanbul.

The Police , after asking marchers to disperse,  attacked  the dancing and chanting Pride marchers with water hoses and rubber bullets, dispersing a peaceful crowd as if it were a riot.  Member sof the public also attacked, harassed and bullied marchers.

While this week has been extraordinary for LGBTI America, as the Supreme Court ruled marriage equality for all 50 U.S. States, I predicted that  we could expect a reactionary backlash in anti-gay countries around the world, where homosexuality, and in some places so called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality, is criminalized.  As one marcher noted on a CNN report – “We are not fighting for equality, we are just fighting for our lives and our right to exist.”

NBC reports:

Turkish police used water cannons and tear gas to clear a gay pride rally from Istanbul’s central square Sunday.

Between 100 and 200 marchers were chased away from Taksim Square after a police vehicle fired several jets of water to disperse the crowd.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the police intervened to push the peaceful if noisy rally away from the area. READ MORE AND SEE VIDEO

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5 thoughts on “Turkish Police Attack Pride Marchers

  1. This is what the GOP/RW want to see in the USA– a police state. Only, they will never believe that the police-state they long for would ever make a mistake & haul THEM into the net…The GOP/RW’rs who think this is good will regret that opinion- and soon.

    “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Socialist.

    Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

  2. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    The backlashes are just beginning …. A sign of “sore losers” and those unable to deal with the current reality. We all are one!

  3. As I am a longer term LGBT supporter than Arab Spring supporter.. I have been keeping them separate… NO LONGER … Here is how I am sharing this:
    MEANWHILE in other #TURKEY news… NBC reports: .. Turkish police used water cannons and tear gas to clear a gay pride rally from Istanbul’s central square Sunday.
    Between 100 and 200 marchers were chased away from Taksim Square after a police vehicle fired several jets of water to disperse the crowd.
    ME: PS TO ALL #ArabSping #MUSLIMS… We will not support your rights to democracy and autonomy unless you support Fully Equal #WomensRights and #LGBTRights NO ‘RELIGIOUS’ excuses allowed. Equality IS Equality.

  4. It would be very easy to ignore this story, turn the page, continue to celebrate with my small, insular community, my lgbti friends. It’s been a trying time, and there’s a moment of peace won and seen, with all the battles behind us. I’m tired of the chanting, the arguing, the discomfort and upheaval of it all. But, i have to remember, i must know, acknowledge, and address the truth that the world has gotten much smaller, and i am a part of that bigger truth then. It all seems so monumentally imposing and impossible to challenge, but isn’t that what we all must have felt a couple of decades ago, as we watched gay men die by the thousands, while nothing was being done to counter it otherwise? With the new privilege we’ve worked so hard towards achieving, we have to remember that that comes with some responsibility, and it means nothing good or really measurable, if it does not further spark more freedom and respect to reverberate out from our changed world. Dr. Rev.M.L.King, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ ..”No one is free, until we are all free.”

  5. Certainly, Dr, King was not speaking directly about the issue of lgbti rights, but he must have expected and understood that that his idealistic words must have meant to reverberate outward, and stand as true and valid in their message. A coupe more pertinent and timely Dr. Martin Luther KIng Jr, quotes…”Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.” “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined non-conformists, who are dedicated to Justice. Peace, and Brotherhood.” “In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” We cannot be silent or retiring, just because we have achieved a goal that serves just our national community. We DO live in a ‘global world’, and that means our responsibility and concern does not stop at our own more safe and comfortable borders.

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