Lara Özlen || Istanbul Pride

Meet Lara Özlen, one of the organizers of Istanbul Pride.

On June 28th, 1969 the Stonewall Riots kicked off a larger gay rights movement in the USA.

In 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago – today pride parades are taking place all around the world.

In 2018, I wanted to know who the people organizing today’s pride parades are, what the marches mean to them, and met wonderfully powerful, loving and kind people from places, which might not be the first ones that come to mind, when we think of queer love.

See all Faces of Pride.

Lara Özlen – Istanbul Pride

What’s your name and age?
My name is Lara Özlen and I am 26 years old.

Since when have you been involved with Istanbul Pride?
Since 2016 I have been involved in İstanbul Pride organization. Before that I was a regular in the marches as well until the ban in 2015.

Why do you think Istanbul Pride is important?
It is important for us to shout out loud and being more visible since there are no legal regulations in relation to hate crimes or marriage equality in Turkey.

LGBTI+phobia is real and concrete here, especially for the individuals who are more visible on the street. For the whole Pride Week we aim to hold a safe place for LGBTI+ individuals which is equally important with the parade. Pride Parade, on the other hand, is the top level of visibility for many individuals who have been closeted throughout years. We aim to make people more comfortable in their skins and increase solidarity among us.

What is one (or two) remarkable thing(s) that has/have happened at Istanbul Pride? 2014 Pride Parade was the longest and the most crowded March that everyone could see in İstanbul. We assume it was around 30.000 people. It was right after Occupy Gezi, and there were a lot of people from opposition.

What do you do when you are not organizing Istanbul Pride? I’m a freelance video editor at this point because I studied Film in BA. I also do workshops with refugee children in İstanbul.

What do you like to do in your free time? I like to watch movies (old habits never die), and read.

Is there something you would like to say to the rest of the LGBT+ community? You are never alone, we’re still here in every corner of the city!

Follow Istanbul Pride:
Website | Twitter | Facebook

DOWNLOAD FREE PRIDE ZINE

[convertkit form=3372792]

Not different, just love - Two pairs of feet, entangled with each other, on a bed

Not different, just love

How do you feel when it comes to dealing with our emotions, expectations and responsibilities, around coming out, living as a LGBTIQ+ person and when it comes to our families and love in general?

Get Your Personal Wheel of Colours

The Wheel of Colours is a traditional tool to help us understand what we need or can share in certain situations.

We are all made up out of the same colours, but they are arranged uniquely in each person – which is why we need or can give different things in different moments.

If you’d like to find out what can support YOU when starting a project, or working with other people, to successfully finish something, to heal, to spark your creativity or what your unique gift is, that you bring to the world, then the Wheel of Colours will help you to see this and yourself more clearly and show you how to use these insights in practical ways.

It will also show you how you can listen to your inner truth and that of others, what your most important lesson is in life and what challenges you might have to overcome.

Once you’ve learned what you need to learn, you can start the wheel again, this time more smoothly.

In the past, people often only got these insights and realizations towards the end of their lives – but you don’t have to wait until then.

🌈 You have the power to create your reality.

Join the CREATRIX School

Are you a CREATRIX - yet? A CREATRIX masterfully directs their life instead of reacting to life's circumstances.
If you'd like to find out how - come and join us. You can now get a 30-day free trial because we all learn in different ways, and it's important to me that you have time to find out for yourself if this is the right way to learn for you - before you make a financial commitment.

I AM CREATOR School - Join Now

Clarity - Confidence - Connection

In the CREATRIX School we bring clarity, confidence and connection into every area of our lives - and we look at a different topic each month.

How can we break out of harmful relationship patterns and explore love freely, confidently and joyfully? How can we create the relationships we wish to have? And find our soulmate?

In this chapter of the CREATRIX School (or 4-week course), we will explore our (secret) desires, our subconscious believes, and how to make peace with past relationships & experiences, and we will work on creating the self-love, confidence & communication skills we need to have all we wish to have in our relationships.