Cast of movie 'Pride' sign open letter denouncing repression of gay rights in Turkey

The filmmakers and stars of the movie Pride have signed an open letter denouncing the repression of gay rights in Turkey, after a screening of the film was banned.

It follows news of violence in Istanbul earlier this week after the annual Pride march was banned by authorities for the fourth year in a row, but went on regardless.

Turkish police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd of around 1000 marchers, detaining 11 people.

Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Dominic West are among those to have lent their signatures to the letter, issued by Calamity Films.

“As members of the creative team which produced the 2014 film Pride, and activists portrayed in that film, we are disturbed by reports of the growing repression of the LGBT+ community in Turkey culminating in the recent ban of the annual Pride parade and police violence against those who courageously defied the ban,” it reads.

“Reports that the Ankara authorities also banned a screening of the film Pride are a chilling reminder that political authoritarianism regards artistic expression as its enemy. That the ban was imposed on the grounds that the film ‘incites hatred and enmity’ is all the more Orwellian, especially since Pride has already been screened several times in Turkey, including at the Istanbul Film Festival in 2015, to wildly enthusiastic audiences.

“As everyone who has seen Pride knows, it is a love story; a simple but powerful tale of how one community under attack from a repressive government extended the hand of friendship to another community threatened with destruction. The bonds of mutual respect and solidarity forged in the 1984/5 strike between LGBTQ+ socialists and mining communities has proved unbreakable. South Wales miners not only led the 1985 Pride march in London, the National Union of Miners was instrumental in winning Labour to a policy of supporting LGBT+ equal rights.

“That the Turkish authorities should fear the screening of a film that tells this true story is a salutary warning about the present political climate in Turkey.

“We send our unshakeable solidarity and support to LGBT+ people in Turkey who are now challenging the ban on LGBT+ events in Turkey.

“We deplore the decision of the Ankara Governate in banning the screening of Pride, and call on the Ambassador for Turkey in London, Abdurrahman Bilgiç, and the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, to condemn the repressive actions of the Turkish authorities.”

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