Political Homophobia or Backlash? Populist Responses to LGBT Rights and Activism

Session Submission Type: Created Panel

Session Description

This panel examines populist responses to LGBT rights and activism, examining the rise of political homophobia versus backlash cross-nationally. The Townsend-Bell and Murib paper explores how backlash has been conceptualized and the ways in which our understandings of backlash can be refined to reflect intersectionality and the diverse ways in which people experience backlash. Two of the papers examine how populist right-wing parties in the European parliament and European countries have responded to the diffusion of LGBT rights in the European Union (EU) and in European states. Mos challenges conventional assumptions that conservative support for same-sex marriage bans in Europe are a product of backlash to domestic advancements in LGBT rights, arguing instead that political homophobia is often rooted in a defensive response to external threats posed by other countries and supranational institutions. Similarly, Norris highlights how political homophobia in the European parliament has emerged in response to transnational LGBT activism and the inclusive norms and policies that are perceived as linked to European identity and as a threat to national identities by populist movements and parties. The Dunlop and Buyantueva paper has a more domestic focus as it explores how the rise of LGBT organizations was instrumental in leading to the passage of gay propaganda laws in Britain and Russia.

Sub Unit

• Related Groups / Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus

Cosponsor

• DIVISION 47: Sexuality and Politics

Individual Presentations

• Conceptualizing Backlashes - Erica Townsend-Bell, Oklahoma State University; Zein Murib, Fordham University-Lincoln Center

• The International Politics of Homophobia: Explaining Same-Sex Marriage Bans - Martijn Mos, Leiden University

• Political Homophobia in the European Parliament - Haley V Norris, Rutgers University

• Traditions, Dilemmas and Gay Propaganda Laws: Comparing Britain and Russia - Claire Dunlop, University of Exeter; Radzhana Buyantueva, Newcastle University

Chair

• Helma G. E. de Vries-Jordan University of Pittsburgh, Bradford

Discussant

• Megan Elizabeth Osterbur New England College