The events of the Queer Fest, planned to take place between 23 and 25 Feb at Goethe Institute Ankara, Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, Training and Cultural Center, and Alumni Association of Political Science Faculty of Ankara University (Mülkiyeliler Birliği) banned by Ankara Governership’s Legal Services Branch Office.
This year, the 12th Pink Life QueerFest, planned with the theme of “Return to Ankara,” has been banned by the Ankara Governorship. In the ban decision conveyed to the venues where the festival was to be held, the Governorship announced that events were prohibited “to protect public order, public health, and general morality, as well as the rights and freedoms of others.”
Pink Life, the organizer of QueerFest, announced the ban decision and its reaction through the following statement on their social media accounts:
“Our events planned to take place between 23 and 25 Feb at Goethe Institute Ankara, Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, Training and Cultural Center, and Alumni Association of Political Science Faculty of Ankara University (Mülkiyeliler Birliği)have been banned by the Ankara Governorship’s Legal Affairs Branch.
The ban, which has not even been assigned a file number and has been issued beyond the authority of the governorship unit, was conveyed to us by law enforcement officers half an hour before the opening ceremony we held at Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, Training and Cultural Center on Friday, February 22.
As the Pink Life Association, we have applied to the Administrative Court through our lawyer to suspend the execution of this ban. We are familiar with this cookie-cutter ban decision that has been handed to us. This is not the first or last unlawful ban imposed on the LGBTI+ community, which has previously experienced bans on watching films, picnicking, walking, drinking tea, and gathering together.
We would like to remind you once again; Pink Life QueerFest is a queer festival that has experienced the bans and subsequent administrative pressures of the 2017 Ankara LGBTI+ events, and although it had to move its main event to Istanbul, it has overturned bans every time, opening new paths each year with a longing for freedom from bans. Our struggle against this decision and its implementers will certainly continue within the legal framework. However, at the moment, we do not even have a minute to spare for this ridiculous chain of excuses, blank papers without numbers, or a decision to dedicate our time to. We have memorized it to the extent that we will not even allow you to steal our time.”
