Understanding the role of NGOs for legitimising inclusion of sexual minorities in Turkey and the UK: an institutional perspective

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the role of non-governmental organisations in legitimising inclusion of sexual minorities in Turkey and the UK. The main contributions of this research are to extend the concept of legitimacy that institutional theory has a merely generic view on; and to understand establishing homonormative institutions in heteronormative structures in Turkey and the UK through LGBT Organisations (NGOs). For this reason, the thesis firstly discusses the process from the LGBT movement to LGBT NGOs that encompass three phases of the legitimising process which are the establishment of the movement, community organisation, and creating NGOs. The thesis pays special attention to LGBT organisations in terms of understanding agency of LGBT individuals with regard to institutional legitimacy in society; the challenges and experiences that the LGBT organisations report; and how members of the organisations understand and experience discrimination due to lack of legitimacy in society. This research is based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with 40 individuals who work for LGBT organisations in both countries (20 in Turkey and 20 in the UK). Having adopted the snowball sampling technique, I reached the members of LGBT organisations which are registered in ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association) in the context of both countries. However, I additionally conducted interviews with GBAs (Gay Business Associations) for the UK due to the fact that the process of reaching the organisations in the UK was difficult in comparison to Turkey. Having used a thematic analysis of the interviews and a documentary analysis of the grey literature which comes from studies and reports of LGBT organisations in Turkey and the UK, I conducted a cross- cultural comparative analysis amongst the countries. As far as theoretical lenses for this research are concerned, having adopted the institutional theory, I also borrowed the concepts of capital and symbolic violence from Bourdieu. The findings demonstrate five key themes that are classified across macro- national, meso- organisational, and micro- individual levels. At the macro national level, the findings suggest that regulations and visibility are pertinent themes in terms of legitimising inclusion of LGBT individuals, facilitated by the visibility of LGBTs. At the meso level, the thesis explores the organisation of LGBT organisations for the purpose of demonstrating main motivation of the organisations to gain legitimacy both before the law and in society. At the micro level, the thesis focusses on individuals’ experiences regarding discrimination and violence that provides evidence for understanding the adverse impacts of lack of legitimacy. This research makes a comprehensive contribution to the LGBT literature that mostly focuses on experiences of LGBTs in the workplace and adopts an individual level of analysis. Keywords: Sexual Minorities, LGBTs, NGOs, LGBT organisations, LGBT NGOs, legitimacy, institutional theory, Turkey, the UK.