By Cathy Kristofferson, June 30, 2013

Thousands of gay rights activists were joined by Gezi Park demonstrators as they marched in the 11th annual Istanbul Pride March along the iconic İstiklal Avenue. The violence from the Taksim Gezi Park uprising seemed poised to threaten the parade in Istanbul today and for weeks police & security forces had threatened to suppress the pride events.

Also joining the gay rights activists were deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including Binnaz Toprak who was the architect of an inquiry proposal on the discrimination faced by the LGBT community which we reported here at OBLOGDEE.

Last year more than twenty thousand LGBT people attended the Istanbul Pride March. No official numbers are available yet from today’s event, but from the looks of the photos they seem to have exceeded that this year!

Enjoy the photos:









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