Reconciling religion and sexuality: an ethnography of youth in Turkey

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2486489_(Table of contents)

Based on participant observation, oral history and ethnographic interviews with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans) Muslims from Turkey, this research investigates sexual and religious negotiations of LGBT Muslims. How do LGBT Muslims in Turkey narrate themselves and their religious and sexual experiences? How do they interpret their spiritual and sexual practices in relation to their Muslim identity? What are some of the ways in which LGBT Muslims negotiate their position as non-normative sexual subjects in a country where Muslims constitute the majority and as religious subjects within predominantly secular LGBTI+ communities? What are the existing theoretical and political frameworks with which one can make sense of LGBT Muslim lives, particularly in the Turkish context? Situating the experiences of LGBT Muslims in Turkey within the global context and literature, this research shows the ways in which LGBT Muslims have developed creative approaches to the tensions that exist between Islam, sexuality, piety and spirituality. Based on ethnographic research in Turkey where there has been a lack of research in this area, this thesis aims to contribute to the growing transnational literature on sexuality, spirituality, piety and Islam