Turks break up gay pride parade with rubber bullets and water cannons

Across the world hundreds of pride parades are taking place. But one in Turkey's largest city didn't go too well for the participants.

From Reuters:

Turkish police fired water cannon and rubber pellets to disperse a gay pride parade in central Istanbul on Sunday, after organizers said they had been refused permission to march this year because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Police sprayed jets of water from trucks at crowds of hundreds who had gathered - many in colorful clothing and waving rainbow flags - near the central Taksim Square neighborhood, one of Istanbul's busiest shopping and tourist areas.

As the crowds fell back, men who appeared to be plain clothes police officers detained several demonstrators, according to footage from a Reuters cameraman at the scene.

While homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, unlike many other Muslim countries, homophobia remains widespread. Critics say President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party he founded have shown little interest in expanding rights for minorities, gays and women, and are intolerant of dissent.

The normally righteous international Left is largely silent about attacks on gays in Islamic countries.

Look for President Obama not to say a word to Erdogan about today's parade attack.