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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

24th June 2015

Gay Pride in Istanbul: great stuff

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A massive march surges down Istiklal, Istanbul’s main thoroughfare.  Banners urge understanding of minority rights.  International commentators praise the tolerance on display at one of the biggest festivals of its type in the region.
 
Istanbul Gay Pride is big.  In 2013, more than 100,000 people were reported as participating. The festival celebrates the gay community by fighting discrimination and violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex people, promoting equal rights and identity.
 
The UK believes that ensuring fair treatment for all, irrespective of gender or sexuality, can help strengthen democracies, promoting social, economic and political freedoms.
 
If you exclude part of your community from social, political or economic activities based on gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation  you are reducing the amount of talent you can draw on.  That can harm your political, social and economic development – quite apart from the ethical and moral arguments.
 
The UK is working with civil society organisations in Turkey to focus on these issues. 
 
In 2014 we supported LGBTI roundtable meetings with legal experts, symposiums against discrimination and screenings of the Turkish documentary film, “My Child”in the UK and here at the Consulate General.  This year we are organising an International Conference on Gender, Diversity and Social Inclusion to mark the 20th anniversary of gay rights organisation Kaos GL. 
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We are also supporting the fifth Pink Life Queer Fest and the 30th British Film Institute Flare Film Festival, designed to increase LGBTQI visibility by encouraging collaboration between film festivals and supporting inter-cultural dialogue.
 
Turkey has made strides in recent years on gay rights: the European Commission welcomed the fact in October 2014 that gay pride marches in recent years had gone ahead in Turkey without disruption. But there is more to be done.
 
The same is true in the UK: the fight against discrimination and prejudice on the basis of gender and sexuality continues.  No one country or society has all the answers.  But the recent legalisation of same-sex marriages in the UK is a step forward.
 
I hope that this year, LGBTI Pride Week will be better than ever; that all goes smoothly; and that everyone participating enjoy the events.  Once again, we extend our support!
Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter at @leighturnerFCO

1 comment on “Gay Pride in Istanbul: great stuff”

  1. Not really that great after the current governments attack on participants by using brutal force

Comments are closed.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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