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Turkey: Erdogan government cracks whip on pride parade,
arrests more than 100 LGBTQ++ activists
OpIndia, June 27, 2023
On Sunday, the 25th of June, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul stated that the Turkish Police detained more than 100 activists during an LGBTQ+ pride parade in the country’s largest city. As per Reuters, these LGBTQ+ activists had thronged the streets despite an official ban on such parades.
Taking to Twitter, Gul wrote, “Our national future depends on keeping the family institution alive with our national and moral values. We will not allow any activity that will weaken the family institution. 113 people who took action with the aim of making propaganda were detained. Please do not share their actions, even to criticize them.”
Undeterred by the prohibitory ban on the parade, the activists tried to amass in large numbers but the authorities took several steps and launched a crackdown on LGBTQ+ activists. As soon as the pride parade started, the Turkish police cordoned off some of the streets leading to Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul’s historic district and to Taksim Square.
Local Turkish news reported that the services along several lines of the Istanbul Metro were suspended for several hours. Similarly, several events linked to Pride Month, including a picnic and a film screening, were also banned.
The Istanbul Pride Parade Committee released a statement in which it condemned the actions taken by the Turkish government on the LGBTQ+ community. The committee said that they reject this politics of hatred and denial. The statement read, “We reject this politics of hatred and denial. Despite all the prohibitions, criminalisation, pressures, and attempts to suppress us, we will continue to advocate for a humane life for everyone and persist in democratic living.”
Although homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, the Turkish government has been suppressing the gay community or LGBTQ+ community.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to be rooted in social conservatism. He has been portraying himself as a defender of traditional Islamic values….
More than 100,000 take part in Colombia’s largest-ever Pride parade
03-07- 2023 02:44 PM
Members of the LGBTQ+ community gather to mark Pride month, in Bogota, Colombia July 2, 2023. REUTERSPIX
BOGOTA: More than 100,000 people were on the streets in Colombia's capital Bogota on Sunday to take part in the largest-ever LGBTQ Pride parade in the country's history, the city's mayor said.
Claudia Lopez, Bogota's first lesbian mayor, addressed crowds waving rainbow flags and performing dances in the central Simon Bolivar Park.
I'm sure the great Simon Bolivar would be horrified.
“Here we will continue, every day and hour marching with pride for what we are, because we have the same duties and we claim for the same rights. Not one more, not one less,“ she said.
Lopez later wrote on Twitter: “Forty years ago in the first Pride March there were 30 people, today we are +100,000! The biggest march in history!”
Pride parades also took place in cities including Medellin, Cali, and Barranquilla.
The drug capitols of South America.
“I have been attending the march for 11 years, and it has been a long time since I saw a march with so many people,“ Camila, a businesswoman, told AFP.
“People’s perceptions are changing and that means a lot.”
The LGBTQ community is a frequent target of violence in Colombia, with at least 39 LGBTQ people killed in 2022, according to authorities.
Colombia’s ombudsman’s office reported in March that of 394 cases of “violence by prejudice” investigated last year, 238 were against transgender people, 61 against lesbian women, 123 against gay men and 21 against bisexual people.
Human rights activist Danilo Huertas, who took part in the Bogota parade, said it was “in memory of all the people who have been victims of conflict” for their sexual orientation, “but also a day to celebrate because... we have made progress.”
Did I mention that sin is progressive? When Jesus returns, which will be soon, What will happen to the 100,000+ who celebrate what He considers an abomination?
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