ABSTRACT
In this chapter we draw on concepts borrowed from queer theory in order to problematize the lifecycle of compulsory heterosexuality in institutional settings, as experienced by gay men in Turkey. With our lifecycle approach, we build on the tradition of scholars in the areas of gender equality (Dale, 1987) and race equality (Thomas, Herring and Horton, 1994) and seek to account for the institutionalisation of inequality from cradle to grave. The lifecycle approach is a way of understanding life and career paths, processes and outcomes of individuals through their successive encounters with signifi cant institutional discourses and practices in their own environment. The lifecycle approach promises to reveal not only cumulative and linear but also spontaneous and emergent effects of institutional encounters over a life course. We do not use the lifecycle as a concept of path dependence.
