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# Turkish students facing three years imprisonment for celebrating Pride
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/turkish-students-facing-three-years-imprisonment-for-celebrating-pride/
- Published: 2020-12-10T11:13:44.000Z
- Updated: 2020-12-10T11:13:44.000Z
- Description: 18 Turkish students and one member of staff from Ankara’s Middle East Technical University are due to go on trial for organising an LGBTQ+ Pride sit-in.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Pride, Amnesty International, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ rights, Turkey

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/turkey-ankara-students-pride-march-2018-1600x867-1.jpg)

Eighteen Turkish students and one member of staff from **Ankara’s Middle East Technical University** are due to go on trial for organising an LGBTQ+ Pride sit-in after being told they could not go ahead with their annual campus Pride march; if found guilty, they could face up to three years in jail.

Their trial begins on **Thursday, December 10**, which is also **International Human Rights Day**, with the group being accused of *“participating in an unlawful assembly”* and *“failing to disperse despite being warned”*, despite their protest being of a peaceful nature. Police reportedly used excessive force and tear gas against the gathering and arrested 23 people, some of whom were not actually participating in the Pride event.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/lgbt-amnesty-international-1.jpg)

[**Amnesty International**](https://www.amnesty.org.uk/write-for-rights/action/melike-ozgur?ref=scenemag.co.uk) is encouraging people to contact Turkish authorities to call for the acquittal of the students, with nearly 30,000 emailing so far. **Nils Muižnieks**, Amnesty International’s Europe director, said: *“Against the backdrop of increasing homophobia in Turkey, METU students and staff have marched through their campus each year to celebrate Pride, and demand equality and dignity for LGBTI+ people. The only just outcome in the unfair prosecution of 19 human rights defenders for their participation in a peaceful Pride march is their wholesale acquittal.”*

Many LGBTQ+ celebrities have spoken out in support of the students, including Travis Alabanza, Riyadh Khalaf, Jake and Hannah Graf, Matty Healy, Russell T Davies, Divina De Campo, Natasha Devon, Sophie Duker, Char Ellesse, Sade Giliberti, Michael Cashman, Jessica Kellgren Fozard, James Mac, Jamie Raines & Shaaba Lotun, Suki Sandhu, Cherrelle Skeete, Chris Sweeny and Char Bailey.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/istanbul-pride-1.jpg)