Fellow marchers gathered around LGBTQ+ activists in Antalya as they unfurled rainbow flags amid a crackdown on queer organising in Türkiye.
Turkish LGBTQ+ activists helped lead a climate justice march through Antalya on Saturday 14 November, raising rainbow flags as campaigners from around the world rallied in the city hosting COP31.
Organisers had arranged for fellow campaigners and members of the media to gather around the LGBTQ+ group before the flags went up. Police searched marchers and their bags as they entered Aydın Kanza Park and lined the route with steel barriers. Queer activists said the presence of international media gave them room to demonstrate publicly at a time when police have targeted LGBTQ+ organisers at their homes and workplaces.
The march opened the Peoples’ Climate Summit, a civil society gathering running alongside the UN talks. Marchers called for a fair transition away from fossil fuels and for major polluters to pay for climate damage. The Peoples’ Climate Summit runs through 18 November, with COP31 scheduled to finish on 20 November.
A PORIRUA YOUTH VOICE AT COP31
Aditi Tiwari, a Porirua climate advocate and youth engagement lead at Voice of Aroha, said the summit still gave young people a chance to be heard by world leaders making decisions about their future.
Australia is leading the formal negotiations in Antalya. Pacific partners are pushing for better access to climate finance and greater attention to ocean health and coastal resilience.
