Although an attempt has been made to develop an interdisciplinary point of view in the field of academic literature through the discussions of social movements, civil society, and democracy in Turkey, there are still many shortcomings in this field today. Such a situation is both politically and intellectually depriving. The aim of this study is to establish a connection between family, organization and social movements, aiming at bringing a different perspective to the studies of social movements which are accepted as a representation of the public sphere in the social sciences literature. This study tries to make a family, which is an important representative of this special field, visible in the process of evolving a social movement by producing and providing social capital using the special case of LISTAG. Through considering the social capital phenomenon in the context of family and organization practices, making social capital resources in our country usable for societal movement studies forms the fundamental design of the current study.

In this study, the context established between social movements and social capital shapes in the frame of social relations. Although it is in the center of social sciences, the social relations concept has only recently begun attracting the attention it deserves, especially after 1960s. Particularly, the social relation concept has become more important within the social construct, which isolates individuals of our time. While the reserves of social relations established between social institutions and individuals creating social capital have become increasingly important, this has laid the foundations of a different subordination process for disadvantaged groups inside the social construct. Excluding various people such as women, the poor, and LGBTI+ individuals and their families from the processes and means of establishing social relations unfortunately contributes to the relational transformation of social inequality. One of the means for overcoming such deprivation is social movements.

Within the context of social movements, it becomes possible to create social capital reserves through social relations that cannot be obtained by disadvantaged groups through organization dynamics implemented on global and local planes. On this purpose, LISTAG, a solidarity association of families with homosexual, transsexual or bisexual children, was selected as the sample case of this study. This family organization, which used to mobilize through sharing and exchanging experiences in the beginning, has become an efficient social movement instrument creating social capital in today’s Turkey.

In our country, individuals with different sexual orientations and identities are alienated from several rights and social relation networks when they share their differences with their families and social environments. These young people, who are denied housing, education, social-security rights, and even their right to live, gradually become more isolated. Within the intricate structure of social construct, these young people, who are often abandoned by their families, consequently lose their means for establishing social relations and creating social capital. This fact can be expressed as the dark face of social capital and may contribute to deepening inequalities. Individuals ostracized from social relation networks are dispossessed of their means for creating social capital. There are various means for eliminating this process. At this point, for social movements such as LISTAG, organizing to fight their children’s loss of rights and strengthening their means for social capital are particularly important.

LISTAG began getting together on solidarity basis in January 2008 and has turned into a very strong social movement for Turkey and Europe. Families fighting their children’s loss of rights and social capital reserves organize by establishing social relations. To that end, they resort to break down current prejudices by creating a perspective and awareness on the people with different sexual orientations and identities within the social structure. On the other hand, they have made attempts and performed activities for the individuals deprived of education, employment, and housing rights to provide these rights. Acquisitions have provided great contributions in the process of producing social capital through social relation. Within the context of these processes, it is possible to suggest that LISTAG is a social movement, trying to resolve relational transformation of social inequality through social capital creation process for these young people with different sexual orientations or identities we can consider a disadvantaged group.