Ankara Governor bans 13-year-old LGBTI+ film festival

Ankara Governor’s Office has banned LGBTI+ film festival Queerfest organized in the country’s capital, claiming it is “for the protection of public order, public health and morals, and the rights and freedoms of others.”

The poster of the film festival is taken by the festival's social media accounts.

Duvar English

Ankara Governor on Jan. 23 banned the 13th Pink Life Queerfest, an LGBTI+ film festival organized by the Pink Life Association.

The festival started on Jan. 22 with an award ceremony and the government initially banned a film screening scheduled for the second day of the festival, according to the LGBTI+ news portal KaosGL.

In the notice delivered to Pink Life, it was stated that the Ankara Governor's Legal Affairs Branch Directorate had decided to ban the entire festival as of Jan. 23. This time, the ban decision was also published on the Governor Office’s website.

The decision stated that "all activities related to the festival" were banned in order to "protect public order, public health, public morality, and the rights and freedoms of others."

The ban further claimed that the festival events "exhibited attitudes and behaviors contrary to general morality, involving certain societal sensitivities and concerns."

In 2017, the Ankara Governor's Office imposed a blanket ban on all LGBTI+ themed events, a prohibition that was only lifted in 2019 following a ruling by the Ankara Regional Administrative Court.

The decision stated that, considering the events and sensitivities occurring in the country and the surrounding region, the activities in question could incite hatred and hostility among groups with differing characteristics and sensitivities, potentially causing public outrage in some segments of society due to social sensitivities.

It was also suggested that verbal, physical, and provocative attacks could occur between individuals or groups wishing to organize the event and other groups, that malicious groups could infiltrate these events, posing a clear and imminent threat to public safety. 

Using similar excuses, the Governor's Office also banned the festival in 2024.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared 2025 as the “Year of the Family” and has been once again targeting the country’s already marginalized community in his several speeches.