Tips for Gay and Lbian Travelers Turkey | Frommer's

Contents:

• EXPLORE VAST AND HIDN GAY TURKEY
• GAY TURKEY TRAVEL GUI
• VERY VERY GAY IENDLY HAMAM - DAVUTPASA ISKELE HAMAMI
• TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TURKEY
• HAVG A GAY OLD TIME TURKEY
• 'I WAS BEATEN UP BY TURKISH POLICE AND JAILED BEE I 'LOOKED GAY''
• TURKEY: PORTUGUE TOURIST SAYS HE WAS JAILED FOR LOOKG GAY

EXPLORE VAST AND HIDN GAY TURKEY

In tradnal Ottoman practice, the termology of “gay” and “straight” was largely absence om disurse, as explaed by scholar Serkan Görkemli. There, zenn equently perform (whout a sexual element) for straight-intified male dienc says filmmaker Mehmet Bay, whose 2012 feature Zenne Dancer explor the iendship between an Istanbul zenne dancer, a German photographer, and a gay “bear” om the nservative Urfa provce.

Back when Bay and his llaborator Caner Alper started rearchg zenne 2006, they saw as a “vanishg culture” – found only ral areas and a few unrground gay clubs Istanbul.

Even among Istanbul's sizable gay muny, for whom zenne dancg might have particular ronance, “people would rather watch drag shows or go-go boys.

GAY TURKEY TRAVEL GUI

But the past half-, zenne dancg Istanbul has gone mastream: bolstered by the media attentn paid to Bay and Alper's film as well as the succs of gay crossover clubs like Chanta: which ter their zenne shows to a largely heterosexual, female clientele. When he was 15 or 16, a iend enuraged him to start dancg publicly, but the only work he uld fd was a seedy gay nightclub Istanbul's Aksaray district. Like many gay Turkish men, Segah found a gree of eedom Istanbul – wh s active, out gay muny – that do not necsarily exist outsi the cy.

While the Turkish ernment do not crimalize homosexualy – nor do provi LGBT dividuals wh any formal protectn om discrimatn – cultural attus toward homosexualy are largely negative; acrdg to a 2011 poll nducted as part of the World Valu Survey, a full 84 percent of Turks intified gays and lbians among their least sirable neighbors.

And although Istanbul particular has beg creasgly welg to gays – Istanbul's annual Gay Pri para is the largt any majory-Mlim untry -- the risg thread of Islamism the Turkish ernment is slowg progrs for LGBT rights. In 2013, Turkey’s prime mister at the time, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, cricizg the adoptn of a Turko-Dutch boy by a Dutch lbian uple, publicly lled homosexualy a “sexual preference, which is ntrary to the culture of Islam.

VERY VERY GAY IENDLY HAMAM - DAVUTPASA ISKELE HAMAMI

In practice, they are often forced to provi gradg pornographic imag of themselv or be subject to a rectal examatn to “prove” their homosexualy.

TIPS FOR GAY AND LBIAN TRAVELERS TURKEY

Though homosexualy is not nsired a crimal offence (same-sex sexual activy beg legalised by the Ottoman Empire 1858), tolerance towards gay people is limed and s of vlence have been known to occur. As of 2016, followg an attempted up, the untry has been ntrolled by a religly nservative print, wh the rult beg ltle to no progrs the area of gay rights. LGBT people are currently not protected by law, and Ankara meanwhile, a prohibn on all LGBT activy has been the bad news out of the way, remas to be said that travellers who act wh discretn, gay and straight alike, are unlikely to experience any trouble while Turkey.

Fd the gay muny wh any of Turkey’s big ci, particularly Istanbul where gay life thriv the safety of packed dance floors, hidn bars and ever-prent hammam bathho.

Turkey’s most open-md cy, Gay Istanbul n easily be found the area around Taksim but be reful when explorg lser-veloped areas outsi of the centre, the tradnal muny of Tophane for example where tourists may not be weled que so Dpa Galani2. While there is no overt Ankara gay bar, spots such as Bistro SAVOY and Sixtie Club draw a firm LGBT crowd as gay Ankara meetg pots. Check onle for the latt gay-iendly bars and clubs, and, if explorg the Izmir gay scene, be discreet on the street and aware that htlers and hookers may be operatg the area.

HAVG A GAY OLD TIME TURKEY

Those lookg for gay Antalya may be disappoted by s lack of gay bars but thankfully there’s always a Turkish bath to splash about ! Check datg and hook-up apps for hts as to where to fd the Amasya gay muny, most likely wh the Turkish baths about | Photo: Emre ZaimogluWant to simplify luxury travel planng?

'I WAS BEATEN UP BY TURKISH POLICE AND JAILED BEE I 'LOOKED GAY''

Unfortunately, this is havg a very real and visible effect on LGBT rights Turkey that gay travelers to the area should take to acunt when planng a trip. In fact, same-sex sexual activy was legalized the Ottoman Empire 1858 and homosexualy has been legal sce 1923 when morn Turkey was found. This is spe the efforts of some opposn parti who have attempted to troduce bills that would allow gay and transgenr people legal protectn.

A report published by Human Rights Watch 2008 showed how gay and transgenr muni face a threat of vlence and discrimatn on a daily basis. The social suatn for members of the gay muny is better smopolan Istanbul than ral areas, where honor killgs still occur; but whether or not people feel fortable g out to their fay and iends pletely pends on their own ntext and would still mean a number of risks.

TURKEY: PORTUGUE TOURIST SAYS HE WAS JAILED FOR LOOKG GAY

Istanbul and some of the most tourist-iendly areas, such as Bodm, have a fairly thrivg gay scene, wh pulsg dance floors, gay bars, and hamams; but many lols who are volved the gays scene by night are livg a different life by day, as they are not able to be open wh their fay or iends, and certaly not at work, where they uld worry about the impact would have on their future. Public displays of affectn between heterosexual upl are owned upon as well, so any travelers would be advised to be discrete, not jt gay travelers.