Something a little off-beat to 'celebrate' my 100th post on Outsports (no big deal, I guess, as many of you have posted well over 500 or even 1,000 times!)
A few weeks ago while channel surfing, I ran across a travel documentary about Turkey, a country I'd like to visit. The scenes of the Blue Mosque and the 'whirling dervishes' were quite interesting, but what really got my attention was the clip about oil wrestling, an ancient, annual event that takes place in the town of Kirkpinar. The contestants (all men, of course) completely coat themselves in olive oil and then start grappling each other, wearing only leather trunks (I'm getting excited already ) Apparently it is quite common for the wrestlers to reach inside each other's pants, although I imagine it would be hard to get a grip on anything with all that grease!
I can't say that I'm a fan of conventional wrestling at all, but this tradition in Turkey looks like it could be very entertaining (certainly more so than Sumo wrestling!) The first link shows some photos of oil wrestlers, and includes a 2000 story about the Bears, a group that was trying to organize a tour for gay men to attend the event, but which was met with resistance. The second link has some interesting info about gay life in Turkey. Despite being a Muslim country, its proximity to Europe means that being gay in Turkey is less risky than in other Muslim nations.
www.ayilar.net/ayitimeline/40/mainen.htm
www.globalgayz.com/g-turkey.html