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Pembe Hayat (Pink Life), February 23, 2024
The Pink Life Queerfest, scheduled for this year with the theme « Turn back to Ankara, » has been prohibited. The Ankara Governor’s Office has informed event venues of the ban on film screenings and activities planned between February 23rd and 25th.
In the decision communicated to the venues on February 22nd, the Governorate cited reasons of « maintaining public order, safeguarding public health and morals, and respecting the rights and freedoms of others » for imposing the ban on the events.
Press release regarding the ban on the 12th Pink Life #KuirFest Events:
As Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) LGBTI+ Solidarity Association, we immediately filed a stay of execution case, by our attorney, at the Administrative Court.
We are very familiar with this serial copy paste decision on a piece of paper slipped into our hands. This is neither the first nor the last arbitrary use of legal power serving a ban against lubunya (LGBTI+ community), as our queer gatherings such as film screenings, picnics, marches, and tea talks have been banned before.
We would like to remind that Pink Life QueerFest is such a lubunya festival which has experienced a vast ban on any LGBTI+ events and gatherings in the greater province area of Ankara Metropolitan Area in 2017, followed by arbitrary administrative oppression, causing us to move festival’s main portion to Istanbul but also allowing us to strengthen our queer genius banning the bans, creating new ways each year while longing for the days without prohibition. Our struggle against this arbitrary decision and its decision makers will continue by legal means. However, we do not have spare time to waste on this irrational series of fake reasons, this piece of paper without a file number or this arbitrary decision. We already memorized this oppression method, for not to allow you to waste a minute of our valuable time.
12th Pink Life QueerFest shall continue without fail, through “kür online”.
Dearest lubunya, you shall arrange your clocks, without changing your calendar, and wait for our news.
We once said #DöndümBak (#TurnedBack), they won’t be able to prevent our warming of this cold winter!