Grassroots Literacies by Serkan Görkemli

An examination of the grassroots activism of Legato, an Internet-mediated collegiate lesbian and gay association active at colleges and universities in Turkey from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Using the Internet and digital media, Legato connected students on campuses across the country and introduced them to new lesbian and gay identity categories and community activism. Serkan Görkemli presents historical, cultural, visual and interview-based analyses of members' coming-out experiences and uses of digital media. Members became sexuality activists with the help of the Internet and challenged negative representations of homosexuality through offline events such as film screenings, reading groups and conferences, amid Turkey's emerging civil society. Bridging transnational and literacy studies, the book traces the contours of a transnational literacy of sexuality.