28/06/2026 | Writer: Kaos GL
Despite the İzmir Governor’s ban, LGBTI+ people gathered for the 14th İzmir Pride March and marched under the slogan “We Are Starting Again.” Police attacked the march and detained 36 people.
Despite the İzmir Governor’s Office banning the 14th İzmir Pride March on the grounds of “public morality” and “public order,” LGBTI+ people gathered as planned. Police attacked the march and detained 36 people. All 36 detainees were later released after being issued administrative fines without their statements being taken.
In the press statement read during the march, participants emphasized that this year’s Pride took place in the second year of the government’s “Decade of the Family” policy, at a time when judicial reform packages targeting LGBTI+ people, restrictions on access to hormone treatment, and barriers to gender-affirming healthcare have intensified.
The statement argued that blocking social media accounts and imprisoning LGBTI+ rights defenders are part of broader efforts to erase Pride marches from public visibility, adding:
“They have no idea about the determination we have shown in defending Pride Marches for decades. We draw our strength from Hande Kader, from Marsha, from Sarah, and from those resisting in Palestine. We embrace our shared tradition of resisting fascism so that the truth can prevail.”
“We are here to demand an end to policies that drive trans people to suicide”
The statement also referred to the detention of rights defenders during operations carried out in Ankara ahead of the NATO Summit.
“Hundreds of revolutionaries, feminists, and LGBTI+ rights defenders were detained in Ankara under the pretext of the NATO Summit. Yet our friends were not questioned about NATO—they were questioned about the ‘Decade of the Family.’ We stand with all those detained, especially Yıldız Tar and Duru.”
Participants also commemorated LGBTI+ people who lost their lives due to hate policies and anti-LGBTI+ violence, stating:
“We are here for Ecem, for Hande, for Ahmet, for Poyraz, for Deniz, and for Arya. We are here to demand that Arya’s death be fully investigated and that the policies isolating trans people in prisons and driving them to suicide come to an end.”
“We do not recognize your bans”
The statement stressed that the movement would continue despite bans and repression:
“Today we are here at the Pride March; tomorrow we will be at work, in the streets, at school, and in parliament. We do not recognize your bans or your repression. We will be the founding subjects of a region where peace, equality, and freedom prevail.”
LGBTI+ people concluded with the following message:
“You are trying to push us out of society, but we are part of this society. We are someone’s sibling, someone’s friend, someone’s neighbor; we are each other’s comrades. We will not give up these lands, our lives, our bodies, or one another. We will win our freedom for our labor, our bodies, and our lives. We will love freely, and we will live freely.”
Tags: human rights, life
