We are carrying out 9. Istanbul Trans Pride March in Harbiye on 18th of June, Equality with Trans People Day, after a 6 year break.
From Bornova and Bayram Street to Eryaman, we, today, come together to organize our resistance in each neighbourhood and street by taking on the anger and violence experienced by trans people who had to move from their places, who are exposed to torture by the state and police state’s law enforcers. As trans+, we are taking to the streets again, aware that our struggle is not limited to today and that the 6-year break we have been forced to take has not diminished anything from our struggle.
We are keeping alive the Trans Pride March, lastly carried out in 2017 with the theme “Migration”, and which we organize for the 9th time this year with the theme “we are #dönmeyiz, we are here!”. We are on the streets; we are dönmeyiz, we are here despite the spaces narrowed by AKP’s law enforcers, so-called feminists who question the womanhood of trans women during 8th of March, and every person who keeps silence against transphobic discourses produced.
We witnessed on 6th of February an effort to isolate, that was a result of rent-raid policies, and that increased with the earthquakes in Turkey Kurdistan and Syria, through trans+ individuals who were not allowed in common tents, who were banned from access to hormone pills and who never received any safe space under any circumstances. We, one more time, saw that the physical conditions because of the earthquakes lived didn’t equalise people, on the contrary deepened the inequality already existing. Even during the earthquake, we, trans+, both had to survive and had to struggle for our existence because of the transphobic, racist, discriminator and risk-free discourses which were supported by the state.
Under the conditions created by hatred politics produced, we are struggling not only during the earthquake we went through, but on each street which we cannot walk and on each space which we cannot shelter. While our places are sealed and our streets are surrounded by police, trans murders are for sure political in this geography, in which we, trans+, are being killed in front of the door of the shelter houses that rejected our demand for accommodation.
“TRANS MURDERS ARE POLITICAL!”
“TRANSPHOBIC STATE, WE WILL DESTROY FOR SURE!”
On the 10th anniversary of the resistance, we salute all segments, especially lgbti+, who resisted in the Gezi Resistance. Today, here, we put on the anger of the people who were killed, wounded, and prisoned by law enforcers during Gezi; we are announcing that we are on the fields. Gezi is honour, it cannot be judged. We are greeting the trans people who went for hunger strike on Gezi stairs during 80s, and we are announcing that our struggling is on-going. We are greeting the Saturday Mothers/Individuals who gathered on Galatasaray Square for 951st time yesterday and got arrested, and who are seeking for their relatives who were kidnapped by this state. Our struggle is common.
“INSTEAD OF BEING TRANSPHOBIC BE TOMAPHOBIC”
The election ‘reality’ which was assigned to have a ‘beautiful future’ by fascist regime of AKP-MHP is far from the reality and it points out the increasing violence of the policies applied to us, by Erdogan’s starting his balcony speech on the election night, 28th of May, with the words who targeted us. In the “New Turkey”, which all the parties and organisations that produces phobic discourses are responsible for establishment too, the ones who are killed and exposed to pressure and violence are for sure us. Even the election’s being fictionized through “electing less violent fascism” is revealing the kind of political attitude applied on LGBTI+, Kurdish People, refugees, and migrants. The sentence “we comply with Kurdish People” when %80 of the votes was received from Kurdish cities, was transformed with the election result into the discourse saying that the reason of failing is Kurdish people. The ones who target Kurdish people at every opportunity and the ones who apply torture to us, trans people, are the same.
While reminding that the mentality which targets migrants and LGBTI+ is the same, we are not giving up the resistance we built side by side. We continue struggling by shoulder to shoulder, and sometimes leg to shoulder, against genocides applied on Kurdish people, arrests, custodies, forcing to criminalise. We, here, again shout that Kurdistan exists, as well as us.
“KURDISTAN EXISTS, QUEERS EXIST”
We are forever comrades with all trans individuals whose existence has been a threat for the geography in which they were born and raised, and who are forced to ‘migrate’ because they are not allowed to live. From here, we are again saying that we will continue our struggle overflowing from borders, and we will not lose our being together wherever we are! We are dönmeyiz, we are here; we are refugees, we are trans.
“BÊ TRANS JÎYAN NABE!”
“NO BORDERS, WE ARE REFUGEES ABLA (OLDER SISTER)”
We, trans individuals, are shouting again: we want a borderless, classless, non-violent, genderless, and unexploited world. This state will either realize that we are equal citizens and create secure jobs for us or will open space for us working safely on our wandering (çark) avenues. We are not afraid of the violence of this police state and its law enforcers under command which instead of ‘protecting’ us, trans individuals, keep using their power against us whenever possible; we are resisting with all our pride. Or we are afraid ‘ayol’! But we are still here, on the fields, with all our sugarity! Do you really think that the fields are yours?
“POLICE! DO PROSTITUTION, LIVE WITH HONOUR!”
We all know very well that while prostitutes are being burned, neighbourhood people are putting woods on them. You cannot neither ignore nor target us. We, prostitutes, sex workers, exist and always will.
“OUR ASSES AND HEADS ARE DANCING SEPARATELY”
With all our openness, our being trans and queer, we are here today. We are shouting by looking at your face that we are not afraid of you! Not us, you will go.
It should be noted; the reason why we are not physically in Taksim today is not because we are afraid of your restrictions and cruelty but considering each other’s security more than the police state which never accepts us as an equal citizen. We are turning until we displace the world. We are not leaving before we take all our friends. We are resisting until you go. We are trans, everliving MY LOVVEEEE!
TRANS PRIDE İSTANBUL 