On a fall evening in Istanbul, Elif Kaya and fellow amateur LGBTQ soccer players hit the field for their weekly practice. The air is crisp as participants run up and down the field, some wearing rainbow adorned uniforms representing their LGBTQ-friendly teams.

“We want to open a space for women and LGBTQ people who don’t have a place to play soccer,” Kaya, 30, told Al-Monitor. “Istanbul should be a safe place for us.”

LGBTQ visibility has reached an all-time low in Turkey, but Kaya and her teammates from Atletik Dildoa, an Istanbul-based soccer team that identifies itself as queer, want to increase it through the game. On Oct. 20-21, they hosted Let’s Fairy Play, a tournament and panel discussion encouraging dialogue on misogyny and LGBTQ discrimination in soccer. They also organize the annual Istanbul Queer Olympix where queer teams from all over Turkey come to Istanbul to play soccer, beach volleyball and track events.

According to a recent Amnesty International report, LGBTQ organizations reported "a sharp increase in campaigns of intimidation and harassment targeting individuals or planned events"; they feel as if they are being pushed underground once again. Since 2015, the Turkish authorities have canceled the Istanbul Pride parade, which was one of the largest pride parades in the Middle East. Roughly 100,000 people took part in the last parade in 2014.