Roman Kuhar - Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe: Mobilizing against Equality

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Anti-Gender Campaignsin Europe

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Anti-Gender Campaignsin EuropeMobilizing against EqualityEdited by Roman Kuhar andDavid PaternotteLondon New York

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Published by Rowman & Littlefield International LtdUnit A, Whitacre Mews, 2634 Stannary Street, London SE11 4ABwww.rowmaninternational.comRowman & Littlefield International Ltd. is an affiliate of Rowman & Littlefield4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706, USAWith additional offices in Boulder, New York, Toronto (Canada), and Plymouth (UK)www.rowman.comSelection and editorial matter Roman Kuhar and David Paternotte 2017Copyright in individual chapters is held by the respective chapter authors.All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by anyelectronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quotepassages in a review.British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryISBN: HB 978-1-7834-8999-2Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data AvailableISBN: 978-1-78348-999-2 (cloth : alk. paper)ISBN: 978-1-78660-001-1 (electronic)The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of AmericanNational Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed LibraryMaterials, ANSI/NISO Z39.481992.Printed in the United States of America

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ContentsDavid Paternotte and Roman KuharStefanie Mayer and Birgit SauerSarah Bracke, Wannes Dupont and David Paternottev

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viContentsAmir Hodi and Aleksandar tulhoferMichael Stambolis-Ruhstorfer and Josselin TricouPaula-Irene VillaEszter Kovts and Andrea Pet

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Contents viiMary McAuliffe and Sinad KennedySara GarbagnoliAgnieszka Graff and Elbieta KorolczukKevin Moss

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viiiContentsRoman KuharMonica Cornejo and Jos Ignacio Pichardo GalnDavid Paternotte and Roman Kuhar

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AbbreviationsADFAlliance Defending FreedomAESAlternativa EspaolaAfDAlternative fr DeutschlandA-GDUWAktionsgruppe gegen Dekadenz und WerteverfallAPAAmerican Psychological AssociationCAREChristian Action Research and EducationCEEConferencia Episcopal EspaolaCEIConferenza Episcopale ItalianaCEOchief executive officerCIDPOCivilna iniciativa za druino in pravice otrokCiUConvergncia i UniCISCentro de Investigaciones SociolgicasCONCAPA Confederacin Catlica Nacional de Padres de Familia yPadres de AlumnosCSOcivil society organizationCSPACatholic Schools Parents AssociationsCTCComunin Tradicionalista CarlistaCVPChristelijke VolkspartijDICODiritti e doveri delle persone stabilmente conviventiDiDoReDiritti e doveri di reciprocit dei conviventiECREuropean Conservatives and ReformistsECtHREuropean Court of Human RightsEUEuropean UnionEVSEuropean Values SurveyFAFForum delle Associazioni FamiliariFARCFuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaFEFForo Espaol de la Familiaix

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xAbbreviationsFES Friedrich-Ebert-StiftungFIDESZ Fiatal Demokratk SzvetsgeFPFreiheitliche Partei sterreichFyVFamilia y VidaGDRGerman Democratic RepublicHLIHuman Life InternationalHO HazteOirHRASTHrvatski rastHRCHuman Rights CampaignIBIdentitre Bewegung sterreichIVFin vitro fertilizationKDNPKeresztnydemokrata NpprtLGBTlesbian, gay, bisexual, transLGBTIQ lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, queer or questioningLGBTQlesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or questioningLMPTLa Manif Pour TousLMPTILa Manif pour Tous-ItaliaMEPMember of the European ParliamentMPMember of ParliamentNGOnon-governmental organizationNSVNationalistische StudentenverenigingGBsterreichischer GewerkschaftsbundVPsterreichische VolksparteiPACSPacte civil de solidaritPiSPrawo i SprawiedliwoPLACPro-Life Amendment CampaignPNVPartido Nacionalista VascoPPPartido PopularROCRussian Orthodox ChurchSAINSolidaridad y Autogestin InternacionalistaSPSozialdemokratische Partei sterreichTFPtradition, family and propertyUNUnited NationsUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationUSUnited StatesUSAUnited States of AmericaUSSRUnion of Soviet Socialist RepublicsWCFWorld Congress of FamiliesWHOWorld Health OrganizationWKWirtschaftskammer sterreichZOGZa otroke gre

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Chapter 1Gender ideology in movement:IntroductionDavid Paternotte and Roman KuharPiazza San Francesco, Bologna, Italy, 5 October 2014. A handful of peopleare standing on a square, two meters from each other, with a book in theirhands. They read in silence for one hour. They claim to defend the freedomof expression and combat the destruction of the human and of civilization.Like them, a few thousand other citizens have gathered on the same day inmore than 100 Italian the Sentinelle in Piedi (Stand-ing Guards), first appeared in 2013 to oppose the Scalfarotto Bill againsthomophobia. Since then, such rallies have mushroomed across Italy and havebecome one of the landmark modes of action of opponents to LGBT rightsand gender ideology in the country. Participants in these vigils presentthemselves as the heirs of Gandhi or Socrates, that is, as the victims of politi-cal abuse, and members of a movement of resistance. Standing on a publicsquare, they refer to other forms of citizen protests occurring at the time, suchas the Arab Spring and the protesters in Istanbuls Taksim Square.Kongresni trg, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 12 December 2015. Eight days beforethe second referendum on marriage equality in Slovenia. A group of about 70people line up in straight lines with about two meters between each of themon one of Ljubljanas largest squares. They are reading a book in silence.The group is called Straarji (The Guards), and they present themselves asadvocates for freedom of speech, thought and conscience. They are instructednot to engage in debate with other people and not to react to any provoca-tion. The Guards claim to be sick of the fact that gender theory activistsimpose their own will and a way of life upon them. According to their ownleaflet, they are the guards of a natural family as a union of a man, a womanand children and of matrimony union between a man also defend the right of a child to have a father and a mother, the respect formale and female identities and the parents freedom to raise their children1

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2Chapter 1as they wish. Unlike other protesters who usually occupy the public spaceby protesting loudly, they demonstrate in silence, as they believe that theirconsciousness can speak up only in silence. However, they did not want theiraction to be unheard: In a press statement they asked the media to report onthe event, which was part of the referendum campaign.These two examples show the diffusion of specific modes of actionacross Europe. In both cases, demonstrators claim to defend the freedom ofspeech, thought and conscience. They contest gender equality and LGBTrights and invoke the intriguing notions of gender ideology, gendertheory or (anti)genderism. Such mobilizations are not unique. Theyhave spread across Europe in recent years. In fact, Slovenian activists wereinspired by Italian activists, and Italian activists were themselves inspiredby a French group, the Veilleurs (Vigilist), which they imported to theirown country and hybridized. Born in 2013 in Paris, this group initiallygathered a few (mostly Catholic) youngsters who wanted to oppose thesame-sex marriage bill and promote human ecology. Reclaiming a tra-dition of non-violent resistance, they organize candlelit sit-ins in publicsquares, during which they sing and read extracts from books by authors asdiverse as Gramsci, Gandhi, Martin Luther King or Saint-Exupry (Lindell2014). Unlike the French, the Italian and Slovenian protesters stood andremained silent. Their movement became more important than the Frenchone and was later emulated in France with the foundation of the Veilleursdebout (Standing Vigilist). These finally took the name of their Italiancounterparts: the Sentinelles (Garbagnoli 2016a).The silent reading of books is only one form of action in the repertoire ofa new movement emerging in Europe, which claims to oppose gender andmobilizes against some of its most pernicious effects. As this book will dis-cuss, these campaigns, which all bear a striking resemblance, have emergedin different parts of the continent. They share discourses, strategies andmodes of action across borders; observe what each other is doing; and areincreasingly connected transnationally (Hodi and Bijeli 2014; Paternotte2015). These similarities are the starting point of this book, which attemptsto understand the origin of these mobilizations, their concrete manifestationson the ground and their diffusion. Our focus is on national manifestationsof a transnationally circulating movement against gender ideology. In thisbook, we want to shed light on and better understand campaigns against gen-der in Europe today.Scholars have described similar mobilizations against gender equality and/or sexual citizenship in other parts of the world. The objectives and the modesof action of the American Christian Right have long been studied, leading tofruitful academic debates on notions such as counter-movements and culturewars. Research has focused both on the history and the development of this

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