Tracing the resistance: Performative strategies against hate speech based on sexual identity in Türkiye

This thesis explores the performative strategies that queer people establish against hate speech based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Adopting a queer feminist theoretical framework, it investigates the intersectionality of vulnerability, political agency, and performativity. Set against a backdrop of intensifying anti-gender discourses and hyper-visibility of hate speech, this study emphasizes the relationship between the macropolitical atmosphere of discursive violence and the micro tensions of everyday life. The narrative analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews and fieldwork observations highlights three main themes. Firstly, it reveals the class disposition of the wound and proposes the conceptualization of the ivory gaze to express the ability to distance oneself from the wounding force of hate speech. Secondly, it examines the endurance toolkits that emerge in narratives of multidimensional discrimination, highlighting the subversive potential of vulnerability. Lastly, safe space appears as a distinct pattern in every narrative, not as a physically determined space but as a more abstract concept that draws attention to performative interventions politicizing sexuality. This work not only records instances of hate speech but also reveals the potential to transform vulnerability into resistance by foregrounding the diverse daily lives of queer individuals in Turkey. It underscores the importance of developing an approach by recognizing queer subjects' political agency rather than relying solely on legalistic or psychological approaches. It contributes to the hate speech literature by adding creative possibilities for resistance and empowerment in the face of hate speech.