Adana Police told the March 8 rally organization committee that "banners, pennants, posters, and flags related to LGBTI+ will not be allowed in the square" Adana Women's Platform said, "What's a ban ayol*"
Adana Police Department said "It is not possible to allow banners, pennants, posters and flags related to LGBTI+" at the rally to be held on March 8 International Women's Day in Adana.
Meeting with the organization committee upon the Adana Women's Platform's application for a rally, the Police Department said that "there is a sensitivity in the society because this issue contradicts the general moral understanding of the public" as the justification for this arbitrary and discriminatory ban. "The Boğaziçi issue is not related to March 8, so the posters and banners on that issue will not be allowed" the police department also said.
Adana Women's Platform shared the whole process with the public by publishing a statement regarding this attitude of the police:
“As Adana Women's Platform, we never agree to this ban, which has no legitimate and legal basis. It is our decision as the Meeting Organization Committee, not the Police Department, to determine what will take place in the content of the rally and which issues the March 8 covers. LGBTI+ people exists, they will exist. Our struggle against hetero-patriarchy will always continue everywhere, on March 8 and afterward. We are tired of the homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and policies and we will never stop fighting against all these. The colors of the rainbow are everywhere!
Besides, what’s forbidden ayol”
The whole statement is as follows:
Our March 8 Program of marching from the Kasım Gülek Bridge to Uğur Mumcu Square and holding a rally there on Monday, March 8, at 16.30 in Adana was approved. Meeting with the organization committee we formed for the rally application as Adana Women's Platform, the Police Department said that "there is no problem holding the rally as stated, but itis not possible to allow banners, pennants, posters and flags related to LGBTI+". When we asked about the legal basis of this ban, they told us that "there is a sensitivity in the society because this issue contradicts the general moral understanding of the public". We have also been told that the “LGBTI issue has nothing to do with 8 March”. We have stated that such a ban can never be accepted and that it is not legitimate or legal. However, they told us, "We did not invite you to negotiate, we are just informing you, no material of such will be allowed." They also said "the Boğaziçi issue is not related to March 8, so the posters and banners on that issue will not be allowed."
As Adana Women's Platform, we never agree to this ban, which has no legitimate and legal basis. It is our decision as the Meeting Organization Committee, not the Police Department, to determine what will take place in the content of the rally and which issues the March 8 covers. LGBTI+ people exist, they will exist. Our struggle against hetero-patriarchy will always continue everywhere, on March 8 and afterward. We are tired of the homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and policies and we will never stop fighting against all these. The colors of the rainbow are everywhere!
Besides, what’s forbidden ayol:)
*Ayol is an exclamatory word associated with femininity and taboos and can mean “well”, “hey”, “wow”. The word itself has been in use in colloquial Turkish and underground LGBTI culture, however, its full and current appropriation by LGBTI organizations is a recent phenomenon that started with the Gezi Resistance in May 2013. One of the first uses was in a banner “What’s forbidden, ayol!” during protests on Istiklal Avenue in Taksim, Istanbul. “Ayol” has been appearing as graffiti across Turkey since then. “Resist ayol” was used as a hashtag for 2013 Pride Week. Its importance is rooted in the fact that though “ayol” was used by LGBTI organizations, it has been accepted and appropriated across groups in the Resistance. One explanation for its popularity can be found in the feeling that the word transcends and frees traditional gender roles and power relations; it imparts a sense of freedom…
