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Picture essay https://reut.rs/3JzUK2f

By Dilara Senkaya and Burcu Karakas

ISTANBUL, May 1 (Reuters) - Ilker Yazici - stage name

Miss Putka - was in secondary school when he discovered he was

gay.

There he met LGBT advocacy groups and joined street protests

in Turkey's capital Ankara to defend LGBT rights, carrying

rainbow flags.

"At first I struggled with myself a lot," he said. "You grow

up in the Middle East. It is not easy. I felt like I was the

only one, just like most LGBT people feel."

Ilker, now 23, never felt the need to hide, however and went

on to celebrate who he is. Inspired by "RuPaul's Drag Race"

series on Netflix ( NFLX ), he sees drag performance as an act of

self-expression rather than just entertainment.

"Drag is a political act. The audience probably look at

me and think, 'What is this freak doing?' I'm getting them used

to seeing something they are not used to seeing."

Many in Turkey's LGBT community live in fear after last

year's election campaign when President Tayyip Erdogan described

LGBT groups as deviants and vowed to strengthen traditional

family values. Homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey, but

hostility to it is widespread.

Ilker's conservative father is unaware of the drag life:

although other relatives found out about the performances -

which take place every Friday and Saturday night - no one has

dared to tell him.

"When I go on stage as a drag queen, the make-up makes

me feel like I am hiding behind a mask," Ilker said. "Miss Putka

is a confident person, very open to communication. I am not."

Ilker studies industrial design at Marmara University in

Istanbul but is considering studying performing arts in Spain.

"You can perform as long as you are healthy. I'll do it as long

as I'm able," he said.

He has no worries about performing drag, but living in

Turkey does worry him.

"I don't know what the future will hold for me here," he

said. "It is so unpredictable."

'YOU HAVE TO BEHAVE WITH RESPECT'

Ilker never thought he would become a drag artist on the day

that, as a teenager, he stole his mother's black sequined blouse

from her closet to perform on stage for the first time in 2019.

He was preparing for the university entrance exam at the

time, and left home at night by telling his parents he forgot a

book at the library.

"I cut a pair of black jeans into shorts and wore them under

my mother's blouse with silver-coloured seven-centimetre heels

and a bonus lilac wig I borrowed from a friend," he said.

"Despite my terrifying make-up and costume, the audience

applauded like crazy and I felt like a star."

Born and raised in Ankara, he traveled for two years across

the country to appear at gay life magazine GZone's events. It

was then that he began to buy costumes and shoes from second

hand stores and flea markets.

When Miss Putka, whose name comes from a slang word for

vagina, began to take the stage at XL, a night club in Istanbul,

it was no longer a hobby but a regular job. Before his first

professional show at the club, he was trained for a month by

Russian dancers with whom he shared the stage.

"The venue is huge. I've got dancers behind and a tailor

ready to do what I want," he said.

At first he was annoyed by customers who ignored his

performance and treated him rudely when he visited their tables.

But he learned how to deal with it.

"I started to say, 'I work here and you have to behave with

respect'. They apologized."

He became the stage manager, coordinating a team of about 15

people. Experienced drag performers advised him to use

choreography to tell a story and also broaden the shows' appeal.

That is how he began playing popular Lady Gaga songs.

Miss Putka's nun-like outfit with a bright red cross on her

head was inspired by American singer Todrick Hall, who was a

choreographer and judge on "RuPaul's Drag Race". Although this

five-minute performance is the most acclaimed, it is not his

favourite.

"I love the one where I shoot flames from my conical breasts

while singing Rihanna songs."

(Photography by Dilara Senkaya, Reporting by Burcu Karakas;

Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Philippa Fletcher)