Identity politics and solidarity practices of lesbian and bisexual women in Istanbul

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1669272 (Table of Contents)

Focusing on people who identify themselves as lesbian or bisexual women in İstanbul, this research aims to explore woman-to-woman socialization processes and their possible relations with identity and community making, solidarity building, and identity politics. This research analyses lesbian-bisexual women’s socialization in two sites: physical spaces that women frequent, and virtual/digital spaces. It explores commonalities and differences between lesbian-bisexual socialization mediums in order to have a wider perspective on relationships established among these spaces, and their possible effects on identity politics. Socialization in LGBTI+ friendly spaces is a significant part of LGBTI+ culture, because they create relatively “safe spaces” within larger predominantly heteronormative social structures. Based on field research with lesbian and bisexual identified individuals, this thesis explores the ways in which these spaces contribute to community making and solidarity building processes.