Life experiences of individuals with different sexual orientations

Social work is a practice-based discipline that respects the uniqueness of the person, respects differences, supports diversity, focuses on social justice and human rights and aims to empower people who need support. In this respect, it is important to develop solutions for LGBT's who are exposed to discrimination or oppression and experience difficulties in almost every period of their lives. Our thesis has been carried out on the basis of this consciousness. The main purpose of the research is to consider the confessions of individuals with different sexual orientations from a holistic perspective and to describe them in detail. The study reveals the problems experienced by individuals with different sexual orientations who are excluded and oppressed in the society. It also provides information about social support elements. Our study is an analysis of individuals who are within social norms and individuals who are outside of social norms. The process of struggling with exclusion of people with different sexual orientations and the problems these people experience in accessing resources due to exclusion should be identified. Determining how individuals with different sexual orientations experience or live social exclusion in sociocultural and economic terms is important in terms of drawing attention. Snowball sampling method was used in the research. Participants were reached through the relevant method, primarily through associations. Within the scope of the study, a total of 21 participants were reached. In the research, information about the age, sexual orientation, profession, education of the participants obtained by filling out a personal information form. There are questions about the family life of individuals with different sexual orientations, their periods of discovering sexual orientation, their experiences in the process of coming out and the homophobic attitudes they encounter in the semi-structured interview form. Permission was obtained from the participants in order to collect the data and then information about the research was given. The interviews were conducted online via the 'zoom' platform and were completed by recording. Content analysis technique was used in the analysis of the interviews. Within the scope of the analysis, the findings regarding the confession process of the participants were gathered under eight themes. These eight themes are about LGBT individuals' family structures and early childhood experiences, how they have awareness of sexual orientation, experiences of acceptance and disclosure, social support mechanisms, negative experiences they are exposed to in bureaucracy and health services, discrimination/exclusion/pressure they face in social life, the platforms they use to establish relationship or socialize, the changes that trans individuals experience during the hormone therapy process and their thoughts about the future. Participants answered open- ended questions with their subjective experiences. Ultimately, they reviewed all their processes from early childhood to their thoughts about the future and they have created awareness about the issue.