17 May IDAHOBIT 2024 Brought Rainbow Pride to Ankara!
20/05/2024 | 17 Mayıs
17 May IDAHOBIT 2024, from which the May 17 Association inherited its name, took place in Ankara with diverse activities and gatherings.
The week took off with the first ever National Wellbeing Conference between 11 and 12 May, which continues with a program focusing on queer wellbeing in all of its activities.
Representatives from the civil society sector, civic initiatives, associations, human rights defenders and various guests from the international community came together on 13 May, during the opening reception hosted by the Embassy of New Zealand, in collaboration with the Embassy of Australia, in Ankara. The Ambassador of New Zealand to Ankara, her excellency, Mrs Zoe Coulson-Sinclair delivered a speech emphasizing the historical significance of 17 May as a date, and the diversity and inclusion as a must for a democratic and welfare society. Her speech is followed by the opening remarks by the Ambassador of Australia to Ankara, his excellency, Mr Miles Armitage, focusing on the significance of raising awareness on HIV/AIDS and the necessity for a holistic healthcare approach to combat stigmatization.
Participants from Ankara queer community came together on 14 and 15 May during the workshops designed to create wellbeing spaces through caricature and comedy against discriminatory discourses, hate speeches, and stereotypes. Acclaimed drag and cabaret persona Kahpe Feleknaz staged an interactive performance on 14 May evening, with the participation of 400 queers and their friends. Kahpe Feleknaz, in her special performance for IDAHOBIT 2024 paid a tribute to the late Huysuz Virjin. On 15 May at noon, a caricature workshop took place under the direction of queer cartoonist Semih Özkarakaş. The queer participants in this workshop drew their compositions on papers. The products from this workshop focusing on how to instrumentalize caricature in creating compositions by comedy to combat queer stereotypes, discriminatory discourses, and hate speeches are decided to be displayed in an art exhibition later this year.
On 16 May, acknowledging the Gray Pride, and the Day of Resistance for Roma people, queers came together for wellbeing in intersectional struggle, through art. The participants danced, free from shaming, performing bellydance and Roma dance figures, during the dance workshop directed by Derin, a trans woman activist and dancer. Later in the evening, people came together to watch the screening of Greta, in collaboration with Pink Life QueerFest which was banned this year in their 12th edition. The movie Greta focuses on a fictional story revolving around an elderly trans woman who can’t access necessary healthcare services in Brazil.
Participants met in the morning of 17 May to follow Queer Memory Tour where a queer storytelling of the experiences and history of LGBTI+ community in Ankara is presented. An inclusive queer part took place in the evening where 300 people attended in a safe place, feeling free. At noon, 17 May Reception, hosted by the Embassy of Sweden, in collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark, took place where representatives from civil society, embassies, and leading figures from LGBTI+ community celebrated IDAHOBIT 2024 and sliced a rainbow cake.
On 18 May, queers enjoyed a picnic gathering with their pets under sunlight and green trees, open air at the Paws Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia event, in the morning. Later that day, a queer football game took place in cooperation with Sportif Lezbon. The queer participants kicked their goals for an inclusive and free of discrimination sports culture where nobody is a winner or a loser.