Turkish lesbian life has become very visible since early
2000's especially in Istanbul and several lesbian venues
were opened in recent years. Before that lesbians used
to be a very small minority in gay life of Istanbul.
They had to go to some of the male gay bars because
there were indeed very few lesbian women that could go
out comfortably. In Turkey their parents do not allow
the young, single women to go out on their own and stay up until
morning hours traditionally. This was partially because of
conservative family structure and partially because of security
concerns. Whereas, this situation is just
the opposite for gay men, as they could go out more
easily thanks to the andocentric culture. There has been a
significant change in this traditional family structure
since early 90's.
As a result of the changing mentality, women in general
including lesbians have more freedom than they used to
have. Internet has also helped a lot for these positive
changes and Turkish lesbian women are now more visible on the
internet as well as night life. There are numerous local
lesbian chat channels, dating and personals websites and
groups uniting Turkish lesbians.
Bigudi
Club (22:00 - 05:00)
Address:
Mis
Sokak No: 5, Teras Kat, Taksim, Beyoglu Istanbul
Web:
Bigudi.html (Click for reviews, videos, pictures,
party announcements and more)
Bigudi is the first ever exclusively lesbian venue
opened in Turkey. The venue has been closed down,
re-opened and changed location several times since it
was first opened in December 2006. As of November 2018 Bigudi Club
moved back to its former address on Mis Sokak, at the
terrace floor of the building at No: 5..
Click here for more information
Former Lesbian Bars and Clubs:
Following venues may
still be listed on some out-dated internet websites or
printed guides. We
are listing them so that you can be sure they do not
exit anymore.
Gia Club - On October 15th 2019 Club Gia has
announced on their Facebook page that they will close
for a season, until an unknown time.
Rocinante Bar - Its became a male gay bar since
mid 2010's. Still lesbian friendly (see below)
Catwalk Women Club - Closed in a very short time
in 2013
SSS Women Club - Opened and closed down in 2012
Karantina - Closed down in 2010, short time after
it was opened.
Gizli
Bahce - 23:30 - 05:00 (Friday-Saturday)
Address: Nevizade Sokak No:15,
Galatasaray, Beyoglu,
Istanbul.
Web: Facebook.com/GizliBahce
Gizli Bahce is not a gay / lesbian place officially and
it is not a place where you would see lesbians all the
time. But it is still considered as a gay / lesbian
friendly venue unofficially and it is quite likely to
meet other lesbians there. It is also used as a meeting
point by lesbians on special occasions. It is located on
famous Nevizade street which is one of the most popular bar & restaurant street in Beyoglu; with tables
placed outside along the
street and full of people drinking, eating and chatting. Gizli Bahce also has few tables on the street
but its main venue is upstairs and it also has a terrace
facing the other side of the building, which is probably
inspiration of the venue's name (which means Secret Garden).
Rocinante Bar (20:00- 02:00)
Address:
Ogut Sokak, No:6, Kat 2 (2nd floor),
Beyoglu, Istanbul.
Web:
IstanbulGay/Rocinante
Rocinante was a gathering point for Turkish lesbians in
mid 2000's. It was later turned into a mostly male gay
bar but then closed down for about a year. It was
re-opened as a gay bar in early 2017 and seems to be
getting very popular in a short time. They offer live
music and other modest shows on different days of the
week. More busy around 22:00-01:00 a.m.
Love Club - 23:30 - 05:00 (Friday-Saturday)
Address: Cumhuriyet Caddesi
No: 349 Harbiye Istanbul.
Web: IstanbulGay/Love
Love club is a LGBT club popular among trendy people. It
has a fairly mixed clientele, and many women including
lesbians can be seen there. It is open on Friday and
Saturday nights. Saturday is the most busy night and
there are some good shows usually. They are quiet
demanding about the admission fee on Saturday nights.
The tickets are around 10 $ with whicy you should get 1
local drink when you get inside. The entrance of the club is
on a very narrow lane between two blocks of apartment,
on the left hand side if you come from Taksim direction.
Super Fabric (23:00 - 05:00)
Address: Cumhuriyet Caddesi
No:42 Elmadag / Sisli,
Istanbul, Turkey
Web:
IstanbulGay/SuperFabric
Although it was opened in late October 2014, Super
Fabric is not new to gay night clubbers living in
Istanbul. It is located at some 10 minutes walking distance
to the north of Taksim Square,across from Konak Hotel.
Super Fabric is not open on some week-in days, hence it
is advised to check out their Facebook posts to make
sure when there are open.. The price, atmosphere and
clientele of Love Club and Super Fabric are very
similar, where you can also see few lesbian women.
Please
click here for a complete list of gay bars and
clubs in Istanbul:
Check out our
Istanbul Gay Map for exact locations of all gay and
lesbian venues in Istanbul
Please note that there are dozens of websites and chat
channels for Turkish lesbians but here we are only
listing few of them which have English content.
Turkish Gay & Lesbian Group
Google group aiming to bring Turkish lesbians with the
English speaking lesbians overseas.
Click Here to Join !
Voltrans
Voltrans is a solidarity group trying to bring
trans-lesbian group open to "everyone who are
biologically women, but do not identify "herself" as
women". You can get in touch by their Facebook page.
Although most people do not speak English there, you can
still take a chance.
Facebook.com / voltrans/
Sportif Lezbon
A Turkish female soccer team consisting of mostly gay
women who are also fighting against sexism, homophobia,
androcentrism, racism, militarism etc.
Web:
Facebook.com / Sportiflezbon
Lambda Istanbul
Turkish gay and lesbian liberation organization located
in Istanbul
Facebook.com / lambdaistanbul
Kaos GL
Turkey's first exclusively gay lesbian magazine which
also formed a gay&lesbian rights organization in capital
city Ankara recently.
Web: http://www.kaosgl.com
&
Facebook.com / KaosGL94
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