Tag: lgbtq+ | Page 2

When the queer film selection, which the organizers had announced would be included in this year’s program, will be once again excluded from this year. Filmmakers and cultural and arts workers renewed their call for a boycott.

The program for the 45th Istanbul Film Festival organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), was announced.

In addition to three competitive sections—the Golden Tulip Competition, New Perspectives, and the Short Film Competition—the festival will feature six sections consisting of different thematic selections.

The “Neredesin Aşkım?” (“Where Are You, Love?”) section, dedicated to queer films, was not included in this year’s program either, despite statements made by the İKSV on social media following the censorship debates in 2025.

Filmmakers and cultural and artistic workers, who characterized this decision as “censorship,” expressed their outrage toward the İKSV and the festival management. The Istanbul Pride Week Committee has once again called for a boycott of the Istanbul Film Festival this year.

What happenned last year?

The decision to exclude the “Where Are You, Love?” section -which has been part of the festival since 2014 and showcases queer films- from the last year’s festival, had led to criticism from the LGBTQ+ community (such as, Pembe Hayat KuirFest) and certain artists, leading to calls for a boycott of the festival. Following the boycott calls, the festival stated in an Instagram post last year that it planned to include “Where Are You, Love?” in the program again the following year; which

Many artists point out that this decision is a clear act of censorship and is linked to the ruling government’s policies of oppression.

Comments on social media also highlighted that the festival’s decision was part of the Erdoğan government’s policies targeting the LGTBQ+ community under its “Year of the Family” campaign in Turkey.

The 12th Istanbul Trans Pride Week called on many organizations and institutions during Newroz: “We are part of the memory, resistance, and rebellion of these lands.”

Photo: KaosGL

The 12th Istanbul Trans Pride Week announced that, like every year, they will be present at the Newroz celebrations in Istanbul with trans and LGBTQ+ flags.

Trans Pride Week called on all organizations and groups defending human rights to stand with them against the attacks they have faced at Newroz by unidentified individuals and the police. The call reads as follows:

“Our open call to feminists, workers, revolutionaries, anarchists, activists, defenders of the right to live, institutions, associations, and organizations: Let’s carry trans and LGBTQ+ flags together at Newroz!
Every year, in the Newroz area where we gather together in resistance against the state and its denial policies, we are targeted because of our flags. We are subjected to violence under various male gangs—nurtured by patriarchy and convinced they are the sole subjects of the space. Despite this male violence, which seeks to block our very existence by forming gangs, we will continue to be present in the square and organize.
In previous Newroz celebrations, we faced physical, psychological, and verbal violence as our flags and our very existence were targeted. The same group of men did not even hesitate to attack babies. Just as we stand against the state’s policies of denial and assimilation, we will continue to fight against such acts of violence, intimidation, and gang-like tactics in the Newroz square where hundreds of thousands gather in the name of peace, freedom, and equality. We are lubun, we are trans, we are Kurdish. We exist in the memory, resistance, and rebellion of these lands. Newroz belongs to us too.
We call on our fellow activists to stand in solidarity with us against those who follow the state’s hate policies targeting trans and queer people.
On the streets, at protests, and on Newroz; we call on everyone to wave the lubunya flag with us, and we invite all our friends and organizations to take pride in flying trans and rainbow flags in the streets. This Newroz, we ask you to wave the lubunya flag alongside your own flags in your parades. Our struggle is shared.
Newroz pîroz be!
Bê trans û lubunya jiyan nabe!
Newroz is mine, yours, and all of ours!”

Criticism of censorship at the Istanbul Film Festival

What happenned last year?

Trans Pride Week: Newroz is all of ours!