“We Are Also in These Spaces!”: Struggles with Leisure Constraints of LGBTQ People from Turkey

Abstract

This study focused on examining the leisure constraints experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) individuals who live in Turkey. Using “leisure constraints” as a framework and qualitative interviews as our method, we found that study participants experienced intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints. Specifically, participants said they did not feel safe participating in leisure activities (in public spaces). When they did engage, they were concerned about the threat of verbal and physical violence, sexual harassment and homophobia. Despite these constraints, participants did find ways to engage in leisure in public spaces.

Keywords:

• Homophobia
• leisure
• leisure constraints
• sexual minority

Acknowledgments

Some of the candidate themes of the preliminary analyzes of this study were presented as oral presentations at the 4th International Recreation and Sports Management Congress organized by the Recreation Studies and Research Association (REKCAD), on 17-20 May 2023.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figure 1. Location of Adana and Mersin on the map of Turkey.

Figure 2. Picnic and yoga events on the beach as a part of the 2021 Mersin Pride Week Events. Source: “Muamma LGBTQ Association” Archive.

Figure 3. Music and picnic events on the beach as a part of the 2021 Mersin Pride Week Events. Source: “Muamma LGBTQ Association” Archive.

Notes

1. The participants of the study asked us to share this personal information about them and provide them with more information.

2. The third author joined the process to support the first two authors in terms of assisting with the writing and editing to ensure that the document was more easily understood by a predominantly English speaking audience. The third author also has experience working and doing research with young people who identify as LGBTQ and provided a researcher perspective that complemented the work of the primary authors of the manuscript.

3. Turgut Özal is a district in Adana.