Between two worlds: Turkish religious LGBTs relationships with islam and coping strategies

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to understand the interaction between individuals’ LGBT and religious identities and related coping strategies as well as their religion-based interactions with other Muslims and LGBTs in Turkey. Twelve Turkish LGBT individuals (three women, eight men, a transwoman) who identified as Muslim either currently or in the past, expressed their views regarding Islam via semi-structured interviews. Participants ages ranged between 19 and 30 and seven of them identified their sexual orientation as gay, one of them as lesbian, two of them as bisexual, one of them as pansexual, and one of them as heterosexual. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Three main themes that emerged from the interviews were Religious and Gender Socialisation, Conflict and Coping, and Discrimination. Most of the participants grew up in Muslim communities, adopting a Muslim identity. As they became aware of their sexual orientation/gender identity, they experienced a conflict and developed various coping strategies to deal with such conflict. Also, they faced discrimination both from Muslims and other non-religious LGBTs which affected their identity development and expression. This study was among the few studies investigating the interaction between religion and sexual and gender identity in a predominantly Muslim country. The findings were discussed in light of identity and coping models.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBT
• religion
• identity
• conflict
• discrimination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Güler Beril Kumpasoğlu

Güler Beril Kumpasoğlu, MSc., is a research assistant at the Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Turkey. She received her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. Her academic interests are perfectionism, sexual minorities, schizophrenia and cultural issues in psychotherapy.

Dilara Hasdemir

Dilara Hasdemir, MSc., is a clinical psychologist. She received her master’s degree in clinical psychology from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. She is interested in cultural issues in psychotherapy, vicarious traumatization, and mentalization. Currently, she is a master’s student at the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work.

Deniz Canel-Çınarbaş

Deniz Canel-Çınarbaş, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Turkey. She received her master’s degree in clinical psychology and Ph.D. degree in counseling psychology from Ball State University, Indiana, U.S.A. She is interested in cross-cultural psychopathology and cultural issues in psychotherapy. Dr. Canel-Çınarbaş conducted research projects on bias and translation in cross-cultural research and racial microaggressions, and coauthored a book chapter on gender bias in hate crimes in Turkey. She also teaches a graduate-level course on cultural issues in psychotherapy.