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Famous Istiklal Avenue starting from Taksim
square divides the night-life area into two.
Most of the gay venues of Istanbul are located on the side lanes
connecting to this always busy pedestrian street
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INTRODUCTION:
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: 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.
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Istanbul Gay Pride 2007 |
Also avoid some
tourist-hustlers that usually hangs 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)
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These are just a few sample of famous Turkish men to show the
variety of complexions
Mind you, they are not gay ! |
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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