International Rainbow Camp from KAOSGL

Kaos GL spokesperson Ali Erol said the one-week event scheduled to be held in July 2006 was in fact "putting a name to a realilty" where as homosexuals they aimed to take part in all fields of life from politics to social, cultural fields.

Every year since 1997 Kaos GL has been holding annual picnics which is what the association is now turning into the First International Rainbow Summer Camp. Erol believes the camp will be an opportunity for gay and lesbians to come out with their gender identity in daily life.

According to Erol, many potential participants were scared off from attending the very first of the Kaos GL picnics held nine years ago in Kizilcahamam, Ankara, whereas now these events had become traditional. "Many friends were scared saying everyone would be cut up... but now the Isik mountain picnics are a classic," he said.

Erol explained that the step to extend one-day picnics to a whole week summer camp was taken in order to facilitate homosexuals with the opportunity to go on holiday like anyone else and noted that various activities including social, cultural and psychological workshops would be held during that week.

KAOS GL was founded in September, 1994, to unite Turkey's homosexuals in the struggle against discrimination. The group's underlying philosophy is that the liberation of homosexuals will also free heterosexuals.

KAOS GL has been publishing the journal KAOS GL (now a quarterly) since it was founded, and it briefly published a monthly newspaper, PARMAK (Finger), in 2001. The group owns the KAOS Cultural Center, in which many cultural activities, meetings and film shows are held and where the first LGBT library was built. (EZO/TK/II

The association publishes an English language online news bulletin which can be found at kaosgl.com/ .