Organizational structure and related concepts in LGBTI+ organizations of Portugal and Turkey: A study on intercultural values

This study within the scope of doctoral thesis emerged out of curiosity about changing meanings in different cultures. The main purpose of the study is what the concepts of "dis-identification, "queer", "freedom", "heteronormativity" mean in LGBTI+ organizations and to understand whether these meanings change from culture to culture, from organization to organization, from individual to individual, and according to the organizational structure of volunteers or membership. In addition, another purpose of this study is to examine fundemantal values of the organizations, the usage of hierarchy-proportionality-equality-unity motivations of Relationship Regulation Theory in different cultures and the interpersonal relations within the organizations. The study was carried out with 37 participants. The time of the participants in the organization varies from 2 months to 27 years. Of these participants, 21 people are from the Portuguese sample and 16 people are from the Turkish sample. Each of the participants is an active volunteer or salaried employee in an organization. First of all, the "Informed Voluntary Consent Form" was applied to the participants. Then, "Semi-Structured Interviews" consisting of questions about research problems were applied. At the end of these interviews, the "Association Values Practice" created by the researcher was applied. Semi-structured interview questions were divided into categories, themes and sub-themes with the open and closed coding methods of thematic analysis. Association Values Application was examined by Frequency Analysis. It was observed in the findings of the study that four universal relationship motivations were all used. However, the way motivations are used and the meanings they contain can be different. Within the scope of this study, it was observed that hierarchy motivation was defined and used differently. In the Portuguese sample, hierarchy was seen as a useful motivation to reach a quick solution, while in Turkey, hierarchy was seen more as a representation of the subordinate-superior relationship. In the case of Turkey, hierarchy was considered as a concept against horizontal organization and equality and was rejected. It has been found that the concept of queer is used as an umbrella term rather than being used as a theory in the Portuguese sample. It has been found that the concept of disidentification is almost not used in daily life. In the Association Values Practice, it was emphasized that the value of "discrimination" in the Portuguese sample, and the values of "violence" and "hierarchy" in the Turkish sample should not be within the association. It was observed that the values of "respect" and "equality" came to the fore in the Portuguese sample, while the value of "solidarity" came to the fore in the Turkish sample. It is thought that the findings of the study can provide an opportunity and a practical contribution to the preparation of policy documents within LGBTI+ organizations and to reviewing the organizing principles and re-evaluating the concepts.