Kemal Ordek ( He/They )

Contract Instructor & Sociology PhD Student

• Master of Science in Sociology (Middle East Technical University), BA in International Relations and Political Science (Bilkent University)
• Email Kemal Ordek

Kemal Ordek is a 1^st year Sociology PhD student at Carleton University. They are an awardee of the Canada Graduate Research Scholarship – Doctoral Award (SSHRC) for 2026 – 2029. Their doctoral research examines the relationship between multiple forms of masculinities of cis-heterosexually identified male sex workers who sell sex to gay men, and the spaces of male sex work in Istanbul, Turkey. Kemal’s master thesis analyzed the gender accomplishments of trans female sex workers in Turkey as tactics of response to cis-gender oppression. 

Kemal has been a queer, trans, non-binary and sex worker rights activist who co-founded non-profit organisations, ran campaigns against gendered hate crimes and discrimination as well as structural inequalities resulting in poverty, incarceration and so on among these communities.

See a selected list of Kemal’s previous research here.

Areas of interest: Gender, sexualities, masculinities, space, trans, queer, sex work, migration, refugees