Activists gathered for a gay Pride march in Istanbul Sunday in defiance of a ban imposed by the city governor's office.
The Istanbul governor's office said Saturday that the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex) Pride would be banned for the safety of participants and tourists, and public order.
The organizing committee for LGBTI pride week reacted to the decision of the Istanbul Governor's Office, saying banning the march contravenes worldwide conventions, Turkish law and the constitution.
Organisers say the parade attracted tens of thousands of people until the early 2010s, making it the largest pride march in a Muslim-majority country.
On June 28, 1970, more than 2,000 people marched in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, marking the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and, subsequently, the first LGBT Pride March in US history. The parade has been held since 2003, and drawn peaceful crowds of more than 100,000 people.
"We are not scared, we are here, we will not change", the Pride Committee said in a statement on Sunday, as reported by AFP.
"The State is not developing new politics on this and there is no legislation on our fundamental rights and freedoms".
The march was cancelled past year after bombings by the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants raised security levels.
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"Turkey should protect Gay Pride rather than banning it".
In San Francisco, revelers wearing rainbow tutus and boas held signs that read "No Ban, No Wall, Welcome Sisters and Brothers" while they danced to electronic music at a rally outside City Hall.
Turkey's LGBTI community is now braced for another confrontation with police today following the latest ban.
Last week, the ultra-nationalist Alperen Hearths group threatened to prevent the parade if the authorities didn't stop it.
Authorities also urged citizens to ignore calls to participate in the parade and abide by the security forces' warning. "Instead of protecting us, to say "do not march" just because some will be disturbed is undemocratic".
'Furthermore the statement also legitimizes groups or individuals who make threats and commit hate crimes by suggesting that there are "sensitivities"'.
This year's planned parade coincides with the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
As the same NY parade started, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that artist Anthony Goicolea was chosen to design the first official monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people commissioned by the state of NY. "It starts in the family, it continues at the university, in the working life", said Deniz Sapka, a 27-year-old transgender woman originally from the southeastern province of Hakkari, who goes by that surname to avoid recognition by family members.
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