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Türkiye -- A Gay Haven? Part 2 LGBTTs tried to keep a brave face as all hell broke loose... Click for image enlargement! Thanks to Hürriyet Gazetesi 7 August 2006 Related: Türkiye -- A Gay Haven? Part 1 Turkish Homophobia Awards Yağmur Atacan, 'Incurable Romantic'...Not! Terms of Endearment, Love, and Friendship Dictionary, Index Terms of Endearment, House Favorites Romantic Mobile/Cell Phone Messages, The Original More Romantic Mobile/Cell Phone Messages Loving Diminutives Turkish Proverbs and Idioms for Lovers Sexiest Hotel in the World The Swinging Beachcomber's Guide Vacations for Warm-blooded Mamas LGBTT Nightmare Bursa's First Annual Parade-March of Lesbians, Bisexuals, Gays, Transvestites and Transsexuals The Darker Side of Modern-day Gay Life in Turkey Of the three buses (which arrived in Bursa on August 6th, 2006), two were from Istanbul, and one was from Ankara. They were carrying about one-hundred Lesbians, Bisexuals, Gays, Transvestites and Transsexuals (LBGTT). The LBGTTs planned to meet first to draft a press-release concerning 'Gay Rights' and then to parade-walk through town center. Both activities were to be very decorous affairs. There'd be no 'wild and crazy' US or European-style festival-like shenanigans. This wasn't super-tolerant San Francisco or Berlin -- or even Istanbul or Ankara for that matter. This was Bursa... Bursa, in addition to Konya, is home to one of Turkey's largest and most conservative religious communities. Almost every street corner in the town center has a mescit (mini mosque), because during noonday prayers there's not enough room in the many over-crowded mosques to accommodate everyone. And as the muezzin begins his noonday call to prayer, city dwellers drop to their knees... as far as the eye can see -- even, as I once actually witnessed, in the midst of a rainstorm. In 1326 AD, Bursa became the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire, and as such, it is steeped in Ottoman history -- which has always interested me. It's also the only Turkish city in which I was made to feel uncomfortable as a foreigner... in the entire 18 years of my living in-country. I can still see the face of the angry finger-pointing sakallı true-believer who stepped in front of me while I was reading the historical plaque in front of the Orhan Camisi (Orhan Mosque) -- about 10 minutes before the commencement of the noonday prayers. The Orhan Mosque had been built on orders of the second Ottoman Sultan in 1339 AD -- and this guy confronting me looked like he'd been plucked straight out of that time zone. "You go," he snarled in English, "Now." When I told him in Turkish that I was just reading about the history of the famous Camisi, he wiggled agitatedly... rolled his eyes -- and disappeared through the doorway into the cami's interior. Still, the Gay Community participants in the Bursa event [who were all members of the Gokkusağı Derneği (Rainbow Association, unrelated to Jesse Jackson's group) or who were affiliated with organizations like Lambdaistanbul) had had a pleasant, uneventful bus ride -- and everyone was in a pretty good mood. And the necessary legalities were in place for the event too. Lesbian and Gay organizers had made timely application to authorities for permission to hold a meeting at the Rainbow Association's Bursa Branch offices -- which would be followed by a 'Gay Parade-March' through town center. The Gay group's plan had been approved by Bursa's Provincial Governor -- and Bursa City Officials had been preparing themselves for a week...even securing extra police services, just in case there was trouble. As things turned out, official city preparations were pitifully inadaquate. All hell broke loose as LGBTT members put finishing touches on their Gay Rights press-release and made ready to begin their First Annual LGBTT March in Bursa... Part 3 - Where did the football hooligans come from? For more on Gay issues in Turkey, use our 'Search the whole website' feature in the upper right corner of this page. Related: Türkiye -- A Gay Haven? Part 1 Yağmur Atacan, 'Incurable Romantic'...Not! Terms of Endearment, Love, and Friendship Dictionary, Index Terms of Endearment, House Favorites Romantic Mobile/Cell Phone Messages, The Original More Romantic Mobile/Cell Phone Messages Loving Diminutives Turkish Proverbs and Idioms for Lovers Turkish Homophobia Awards Sexiest Hotel in the World The Swinging Beachcomber's Guide Vacations for Warm-blooded Mamas Unrelated fun: Frequently asked questions about Turkey and the Turkish language Traditional Turkish Humor 1 Traditional Turkish Humor 2 Habibullah and The Great Cannon Caper Turkish Tongue Twisters Turkish Belly Dancers Turkish Terms Of Endearment Turkish Personal Names Politically Incorrect Turkish Humor Why Off-Color Turkish is important too Turkish Movies Catalog, Letter-A Turkish Kinsey Report #1 - Turkey opens up about its seks Turkish Kinsey Report #2 - Did they hear it through the grapevine? Turkish Kinsey Report #3 - Was it good for you? Turkish Kinsey Report #4 - The first time, by age group... Turkish Kinsey Report #5 - Who's gotta have it? He? Or she? Post your comment...»

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