Short, Sweet, and Very Gay

Today was a fast day. It threatened to rain in my neighborhood all afternoon, but never did. Pussy.

 I woke up at 10:00 to the sound of my apartment mate (Mitbewöhner is a much better word) talking loudly on Skype. This continued for two hours, as I fell in and out of sleep. I finally left my room at 2:00pm and grabbed a bite to eat from the Simit Sarayı just down the road. On the way I saw a car drive by really fast with two toddlers standing up in the back seat. What kind of shitty parent lets their toddlers ride unsecured in fucking Istanbul? I don't even feel safe in a taxi when I have a seatbelt on. Jesus. I guess it is the same type of parent, all too common here, who takes their newborn to the park in a stroller and sits next to it and smokes a pack and a half of cigarettes. There isn't a parenting manual, I know. But seriously, when your cigarette packs here clearly state that smoking kills, and that secondhand smoke is dangerous to children, you'd think someone with enough wits to know how to drive would know how NOT TO BLOW SMOKE TOWARD THEIR FUCKING BABY.

Anyway, I am sorry. It just bugs me.

Immediately after scarfing down my late lunch, I met up with people who were going to the Istanbul PRIDE "Parade." I put it in quotes because that is how it was described to us by the girl organizing it. I don't think she knew, nor did any of us, that it would actually be a gay rights protest. I had my misgivings about getting so close to it, given the Turkish police's penchant for violently breaking up protests (see any May Day protest for details), and I assume (probably correctly) that homosexuals are among the least protected groups in the city/country. So I was nervous about being a couple dozen feet away from the line of riot policemen (and women!) and their massive water cannon truck. So after clapping along with their cheers and taking some pictures and video, a few of our group went with me to the Saray Muhallebecisi, the dessert place I love, and we sat at the window on the second level to watch...and share 5 different types of dessert, included tavuk göğsü, the pudding mixed with ultra-finely shredded chicken breast (its namesake). 

Eventually, the parade came past. It grew in size to probably around 700 people. Not exactly the Love Parade, but again, these people here are actively pursuing rights that sexual minorities have already in countries that host such huge events. There was, of course, the obligatory 6'5", 250 lb. pink wig-wearing transvestite leading the procession. But there was also a guy playing the darbuka, adding a bit of Turkish flair to the whole event. A huge rainbow flag was unfurled and took up much of the width of Istiklal Caddesi (the big shopping/bar street where the parade took place), and everyone had placards that said "We are gays, we are lesbians, we are transvestites, we are transexuals, we are bisexuals," on one side, and "We're here, get used to it," on the other.

The whole scene was pretty tense and surreal. I will never forget the moment that the protestors all fell silent during the call to prayer. They resumed chanting immediately after it finished. The riot police opted to allow the "parade" to proceed down the street, after having apparently had every intention of blocking them. So behind the parade came the ranks of riot cops and their massive water cannon truck. The parade surrounded the historical tram, which had stopped to let them pass. I have to say, the crowd reactions were a lot more positive than I had expected, but that might have just been due to the day I spent in the city's ultraconservative neighborhood yesterday. Regardless of what they thought, everyone was taking pictures. The vibe was overwhelmingly positive, but that didn't make me less nervous. Whenever you have a crowd that big and young, poorly trained riot cops with nothing better to do, the last place I want to be is between them and the protest. Especially in Turkey, where I believe just last week or so, those cops beat a kid into a coma for telling them to slow down in their car. I was scanning the crowd most of the time, looking for plainclothes cops and instigators, and looking at the balconies above for anything suspicious, remembering that the 1977 May Day massacre happened after a panic ensued from shots fired onto the crowd from above by right-wing militants involved in NATO's Gladio operation. Anyway, I feel like being paranoid in such a case is better than not being careful at all, and thinking you're at an American parade. We moved away after the parade stopped in the open space further down the road, and the police began to move toward them. From what I saw and heard later, nothing bad happened. It was a pretty successful protest, I'd say. They got access to the biggest pedestrian thoroughfare in the city, and managed to almost block it entirely. And they did so non-violently, and with lots of smiling and music. Bingo bango bongo. 

I feel a bit bad for admitting this, but one of the female riot cops was actually really hot. Also, one of the people in my program has swine flu. He isn't at my university, though. But still. SWINE FLU. And my Mitbewöhner is now having a Skype fight with his girlfriend back in Orange County. Yeah. The OC. They are really cussing up a storm at each other. I can hear it through my wall. Highlight so far: "No, fuck you. You have to stay and talk to me. You bitched me out for not being there on time last time. No. Fuck you."

Goodnight!