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Introduction
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If you have
not been to Istanbul before, we would suggest you to start
with understanding the special gay culture of this city.
Being the most crowded city of Turkey, Istanbul is the
center of Turkish gay life. Although Turkey is undergoing a
rapid change, certain things are still very traditional and
peculiar in this country. The gay culture is a good sample
of this. Taking immigration from all over the country,
Istanbul is a summary of the whole Turkey.
Turkish Gay Culture
Turkey's got a traditional bisexual culture taking its root
from the history. The gay relationships usually happens
between real gay men and the bisexuals. In this culture the
bisexuals would never consider themselves as gay - or even
bisexual. Indeed they are different then typical gay men.
They do not have sex with each other first of all. They
look, talk and act like straight men all the way (in fact
some of them may be really straight oriented and may be
having limited sex with -usually- feminine gay men when they
are too horny. They are supposedly top (active is the common
word in local culture) but you never know. This may be hard
to understand by western Europeans mainly, but it was
probably like this in the Catholic/Latin European countries
until 30 years ago or may be still so in some Latin American
countries. But of course the preferences vary depending on
each person. With the changing culture, western style
gay-to-gay relationships are rapidly becoming more
widespread but still it is not the mainstream as in the
western countries yet.
Safety and Warnings
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Istanbul Gay Pride 2007 |
According to the statistics Istanbul is one of safest
metropolises of the world. But there are naturally some
risks in the gay world as in many other big cities of the
world. Because of the under-developed economy and the
wide-gap between the rich and the poor you can encounter
some malicious people in gay life. No need to worry too much
though, as long as you know what is happening. The worst
thing that usually happens is thieving. Even this does not
usually happen out on the streets or at bars and clubs, but
usually if you go somewhere with someone that you do not now
anything about. If you don't carry a lot of valuable things
and money on you when you are out for cruising especially to
places like parks, nothing significant should happen. Do
not go with local people (especially with bisexual men) to
their places, and prefer public venues such as hamams or
saunas instead, if your hotel is not suitable.
Also avoid some tourist-hustlers who
usually hang around Taksim and sometimes around Sultanahmet
who would want to take you to some scam bars/clubs to
overcharge you. That bill can be up to 1000 Euro depending
how far you follow your basic instincts instead of your
logic. There are few clubs/bars like that but their hustlers
are always around who probably take commission from these
clubs. Simply stay away from people in these neighborhoods
who are too friendly all of a sudden.
Another minor thing is that some but fewer taxi drivers
over-ride tourists. Sometime it may be good to ask taxi
driver how much you will pay for the place you go before
hand. You may ask your hotel receptions to call you a taxi
that they know to avoid this risk. In general feel at home
and even be a little snob when necessary. Make sure that
there is law in this country, and fight for your rights if
needed. In fact ordinary Turkish people are very hospitable
and nice people, but do not expect everyone you meet will be
like that in such nightlife or tourist towns of the city.
Istanbul is a big metropolis ultimately, where you can meet
any kind of people.
Gay
Activities
The gay activities have become
more and more visible during the last 20 years. The number
of the gay venues has increased rapidly especially during
the last 10 years. Taksim district of Beyoglu town on the
European side of Istanbul is the center of almost all major
gay venues. In fact, this district is the center of general
local night life. There are many modern or traditional gay
clubs, bars, saunas and hamams near the Taksim/Beyoglu area.
This neighborhood is also frequented by many (mostly
bisexual) rent-boys. Some of these boys can really be as
handsome as film-stars indeed. There are also many clubs for
transvestites and transsexuals in Taksim district. Indeed,
the gay life of Istanbul is very colorful and vibrant. The
first gay and lesbian organization of Turkey is also in
Istanbul. Lambda Istanbul (see
their websites)
Ethnicity
Despite the caricaturized
historical image of Turkish men in the western countries as
dark-skinned men with big mustaches and big bellies, Turks
are actually very European looking and beautiful race,
definitely more white then the Spanish if not Italians or
the French. Do not be surprised to see blond men with green
eyes, if not many. Turkish people have no language or ethnic
connection with the Arabs except the religion and its
cultural influence. In fact Turkish people are partly
hybrid because, various nations lived together under Ottoman
Empire rule such as Bulgarians, Serbs, Greeks, Jews, Arabs,
Kurds, Georgians Armenians etc and its been a land of
immigration because of its geographical position like a
bridge between Asia and Europe. Probably for that
reason Turkish men are admired internationally by gay men
from various nations including Americans, Europeans, Arabs,
as well and Japanese and other nations of far eastern Asia.
Especially the new generation boys and young men are very
attractive who grew up with the pop images of private
televisions. They know how to wear and how to act very well,
even if they come from poorer families. Kurdish oriented
Turkish citizens who are comparatively more dark forms the
second largest ethnic group in Turkey (10-15 % of total
population) who are also widely hybrid with Turks.
Kurdish oriented Turkish men are popular attraction group
for some local gay men, probably like the Latin guys in USA
or Western Europe.
Law and regulations
There is not any law against
homosexuality in Turkey since the beginning of the republic
period (1923). In fact, there is not any law at all
concerning homosexuality. In theory, some general laws can
be applied if you make sex in places open to public, but it
is never heard of such an incident in real life. The age of
consent is 18, which also applies as the age limit to be
able to enter bars and clubs selling alcohol. Although there
are still some small defects with her democracy, Turkey is
the most secular and democratic "Muslim country" in the
world, much more closer to the western culture. The new
democratic laws accepted by the parliament in 2002 and 2003
have improved this situation further more. Unfortunately,
when a new law was being accepted to punish various
discriminations in late 2004, sexual orientation was omitted
by the present Government at the last minute. When critics
grow, the Minister of Justice said that the phrase that
means "discrimination against sexuality" already taking
place in the latest regulation would automatically cover
"sexual orientation" as well. Even this is can be considered
as an improvement, when considering the present government
is from the most conservative party that ever came to power
in Turkey.
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