Gay Pride Istanbul is the annual gay pride march and LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 demonstration which is held in the biggest city of Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. The first pride took place in 2003 and now occurs on the last Sunday of June of each year, as closure of the Istanbul pride week. The first Pride had around 30 participants. The number increased exponentially each year, with around 5,000 people gathering and marching in the 2010 pride march. The 2011 edition of the march attracted over 10,000 people and therefore the Istanbul pride march is considered the biggest in eastern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.


The pride march starts on Taksim Square

Taksim Square

Taksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...

 and goes down on İstiklal Avenue

Istiklal Avenue

İstiklal Avenue or Istiklal Street is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul, Turkey, visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the course of weekends...

, a big pedestrian street.

Authorities

The Istanbul Pride parade does not receive support from the municipality or the government, and is organized without permission of the municipality.

Organizers

LGBT organizations that join and help organizing the pride marches every year are:

• Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi “Gri (Gender roles and identities)” Kulübü
• Bilkent Üniversitesi Think colorful! LGBTQ student's Society
• Bilgi Gökkuşağı LGBT student's Society
• Hebûn LGBT Diyarbakır Organization
• İLLET İstanbul anti-authoritarian pleasure and resistance network of feminist women, trans, queer. İstanbul LGBT Solidarity Association.
• İstanbul LGBTT Solidarity Organization
• İTÜ Cins Arı LGBT Öğrenci Topluluğu
• İÜ Radar LGBT Öğrenci Topluluğu
• Kadın Kapısı (Women's door)
• Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association
• LİSTAG – Istanbul group of Families of LGBT
• luBUnya Boğaziçi Üniversitesi LGBT Society
• MorEl Eskişehir LGBTT Organization
• ODTÜ LGBT Dayanışması
• Pembe Hayat LGBTT Solidarity Association
• Sabancı Üniversitesi Gender Club
• Siyah Pembe Üçgen İzmir LGBTT Association
• Voltrans Trans Erkek Initiative

Other institutions and organizations that contribute to the Pride march are:

• Amnesty International
  Amnesty International
  Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
  
  
• Open Society Foundation
• Anadolu Kültür
• Rattenbar

Political impact

Politicians that joined the pride parade are mainly from the Opposition parties BDP

BDP

BDP may refer to:* Bank Deposit Program* Bandwidth-delay product* Beclometasone dipropionate* Blu-ray Disc Player* Boogie Down Productions, hip hop group* Brain Dead Psycho * Building Design Partnership, UK architects....

 and CHP

CHP

-Healthcare:* Oporto Hospital Centre* Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh* Community Health Partnerships* Certified Health Physicist-Politics:* Christian Heritage Party * Christian Historical Party...

• Ertuğrul Kürkçü
• Sebahat Tuncel
  Sebahat Tuncel
  Sebahat Tuncel is a Kurdish politician, women’s rights advocate, former nurse and member of Parliament in Turkey.She was born in Malatya and studied Cartography and Land Surveying in Mersin University and began her political career through the Women’s Branch of the Party of People’s Democracy in...
  
  
• Melda Onur
• Sırrı Süreyya Önder
  Sırrı Süreyya Önder
  Sırrı Süreyya Önder is a Turkish fim director, actor, screen writer, columnist, and an MP elected in the Turkish general election, 2011.-References:...
  
  

There are as well members of the European parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

that join the march. They call upon the Turkish authorities to guarantee fundamental rights and civil liberties for LGBT people.