Anti-LGBT rhetoric comprises themes,
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
s, and
slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
s that have been used against
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
or other
non-heterosexual
Non-heterosexual is a word for a sexual orientation or sexual identity that is not heterosexual. The term helps define the "concept of what is the norm and how a particular group is different from that norm". ''Non-heterosexual'' is used in femi ...
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
s in order to demean
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
, and
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
(
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
) people. They range from the demeaning and the pejorative to expressions of hostility towards
homosexuality which are based on religious, medical, or moral grounds. It is a form of
hate speech
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
,
which is illegal in countries such as the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Anti-LGBT rhetoric often consists of
moral panic
A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...
and
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
. In
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, these conspiracy theories are based on earlier
antisemitic conspiracy theories
Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are " sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such rep ...
and posit that the LGBT movement is an instrument of foreign control and domination.
As a foreign conspiracy
In 1969, the
Greek junta
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
exited the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
after being found in violation of the
European Convention of Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
, judging that the
European Commission of Human Rights
The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe.
From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court of Hu ...
was "a conspiracy of homosexuals and communists against Hellenic values".
This discourse, promoted by the governments of Hungary and Poland, alleges that
LGBT rights movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...
are controlled by foreign forces (such as the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
) and are a threat to national independence and western civilization.
Anti-government protests in Russia and the
Euromaidan
Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of Political demonstration, demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protes ...
have also been portrayed by the Russian government as the work of a LGBT conspiracy.
Furthermore, although Russia considers itself to be a European country, its values are entirely different than those commonly seen within the European Union. More specifically, Russia used to protest against the common European Values in support of LGBT rights, however rather than complaining about these values, Russia has now chosen to openly express their own values, which are entirely against any support for LGBT rights.
As an ideology
In 2013, Alex Aradanas published some articles in the right-wing website ''
American Thinker
''American Thinker'' is a daily online magazine dealing with American politics from a politically conservative viewpoint. It was founded in 2003 by attorney Ed Lasky, health-care consultant Richard Baehr, and sociologist Thomas Lifson, and ini ...
'' which discussed "LGBT ideology", for instance, "to affirm LGBT ideology is to support abuse".
The Italian Catholic philosopher also used the phrase in a 2015 article, equating it with the earlier concept of "
gender ideology
The anti-gender movement is an international movement which opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology", " gender theory" or "genderism". The concepts cover a variety of issues and have no coherent definition. Members of the anti-gender mov ...
". In his article he does not define either "LGBT ideology" or "gender ideology".
In 2017, several conservative Islamic politicians in Malaysia and Indonesia attacked "LGBT ideology".
[
During a sermon on 1 August 2019, Polish Archbishop ]Marek Jędraszewski
Marek Jędraszewski (born 24 July 1949) is a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who has been Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków since 8 December 2016. He served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Łódź from 2012 to 2017. He has also been Vice-Pres ...
called "LGBT ideology" a "rainbow plague" and compared it to the "Red Plague
"Red Plague" ( pl, "Czerwona Zaraza") is a Polish poem, written in 1944 by Józef Szczepański, a World War II–era poet, who died during the Warsaw Uprising. "Red Plague" inspired Polish Oscar-winning film director Andrzej Wajda to create the ...
" of Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. Following this, the Czech cardinal Dominik Duka
Dominik Jaroslav Duka O.P. (born 26 April 1943) is a Czech prelate of the Catholic Church who was archbishop of Prague from 2010 to 2022. He was made a cardinal in 2012. He was bishop of Hradec Králové from 1998 to 2010. He was Spiritual Pro ...
also commented on "LGBT ideology". However, because Czech society is secular and the Catholic Church has little influence on Czech politics, his comments had little impact.[ In September 2019, Stanley Bill, a lecturer at ]Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
who studies Poland, stated "Scaremongering about 'LGBT ideology' has almost become official policy in Poland with often nasty insinuations from members of the government and public media now the norm".
In June 2020, Polish President Andrzej Duda
Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and the ...
drew international attention when he called LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
an "ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
" and a form of "Neo-Bolshevism
Neo-Sovietism is the Soviet Union–style of policy decisions in some post-Soviet states, as well as a political movement of reviving the Soviet Union in the modern world or to reviving specific aspects of Soviet life based on the nostalgia for t ...
". Agreement party MP Jacek Żalek stated in an interview that the LGBT community "are not people" and "it's an ideology", which led to the journalist asking him to leave the studio; the row caused controversy. The next day, Duda said at a rally in Silesia: "They are trying to convince us that GBT GBT may refer to:
Transport
* Gambat railway station, in Pakistan
* Gorgan Airport, in Iran
* Gotthard Base Tunnel, in Switzerland
* Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority, in Connecticut
Other uses
* Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, in Surabaya, Indo ...
is people, but it is just an ideology." He promised to "ban the propagation of LGBT ideology in public institutions", including schools, similar to the Russian gay propaganda law
The Russian federal law "for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values", also referred to in English-language media as Russia's gay propaganda law or anti-gay law, is a bill that was una ...
. On the same day, PiS MP Przemysław Czarnek said on a TVP Info
TVP Info is a Polish free-to-air television news channel, run by the public broadcaster, state media TVP. It is focused on newscasts, airing nationwide news bulletins from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Its main offices are located at the TVP ...
talk show, regarding a photo of a naked person in a gay bar, "Let's defend ourselves against LGBT ideology and stop listening to those idiocies about human rights or equality. These people are not equal to normal people."
In July 2020, the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
announced that it will not provide funding to six Polish towns that have declared themselves 'LGBT-free zone
LGBT-free zones ( pl, Strefy wolne od LGBT) or LGBT ideology-free zones ( pl, Strefy wolne od ideologii LGBT) are municipalities and regions of Poland that have declared themselves unwelcoming of what they described as "LGBT ideology", in order ...
s', after nearly 100 local governments, a third of Poland's territory, declared themselves "free from LGBT ideology." On 1 August 2020, the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...
, ultranationalist Robert Winnicki
Robert Artur Winnicki (born 18 July 1985) is a Polish politician who has been a member of the Sejm since 2015. He heads the National Movement political party.
Before entering politics, Winnicki worked as a journalist. He served as a chairman of ...
compared LGBT to communist and Nazi ideology. He stated, "Every plague passes at some point. The German plague passed, which was consuming Poland for six years, the red plague passed, the rainbow plague is also going to pass." In August 2020, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro
Zbigniew Tadeusz Ziobro (; born 18 August 1970) is a Polish politician. He is the current Minister of Justice of the Republic of Poland, as of January 2019, serving in the Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki. He previously served in the same role fro ...
announced a new program for "counteracting crimes related to the violation of freedom of conscience committed under the influence of LGBT ideology". From a government fund intended to help victims of crime, PLN 613,698 was awarded to a foundation to combat the alleged crimes of "LGBT ideology". The project, among other things, explores a supposed connection between LGBT ideology and the Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...
. At the 16 August " Stop LGBT aggression" rally that year, Krzysztof Bosak
Krzysztof Bosak (, born 13 June 1982) is a far-right Polish politician. He was a member of the Sejm for the League of Polish Families from 2005 to 2007 and has been a member of the Sejm again since 2019 for the Confederation. Bosak was the chairm ...
said that even irreligious people are among opponents of "LGBT ideology" because it is "contrary to common sense and rational thinking". He also said that the LGBT community is "a lower form of social life".
Criticism
According to ''Krakow Post
The ''Krakow Post'' is an English-language newspaper based in Kraków, Poland.
Owned by Lifeboat Limited since 2008, the monthly newspaper covers local and national news, politics, culture, business, sports, and human interest stories.
History
...
'', a Polish newspaper, "LGBT is not an ideology... The phrase 'LGBT ideology' makes about as much sense as 'redhead ideology' or 'left-handed ideology.'" While the support of many LGBT people
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and social ...
and their allies improved LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
, they have differing political views. According to Notes from Poland, "attacks on 'LGBT ideology' – which often rely on exaggerated, distorted or invented claims – result in the marginalisation and demonisation of such people." Center-right presidential candidate Szymon Hołownia, who is a practicing Catholic, stated, "there is no such thing as LGBT ideology, there are GBT GBT may refer to:
Transport
* Gambat railway station, in Pakistan
* Gorgan Airport, in Iran
* Gotthard Base Tunnel, in Switzerland
* Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority, in Connecticut
Other uses
* Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, in Surabaya, Indo ...
people". He said that anti-LGBT rhetoric from politicians could lead vulnerable people to suicide. In protest at the comments made by the president and Żalek, LGBT people have held pickets in various towns and cities in Poland, opposing the idea that LGBT is an ideology. Activists also created a film, "Ludzie, nie ideologia" (People, not ideology) showcasing the families of LGBT people.
An article in OKO.press
OKO.press is a Polish investigative journalism website created on 15 June 2016. The name is a word play on ''oko'', Polish for ''eye'', and an abbreviation for "Ośrodek Kontroli Obywatelskiej" (''Centre for Civic Control'').
OKO.press is funde ...
compared the anti-LGBT campaign to the 1968 "anti-Zionist" campaign: during the anti-Zionist campaign, people said that they were targeting Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
as an ideology, but ended up targeting Jews as people. Many Jews were forced out of the country in 1968, and LGBT people are emigrating from Poland in 2020. According to Polish historian Adam Leszczyński, "LGBT ideology" is
Dehumanization
Dehumanization
Dehumanization is the denial of full humanness in others and the cruelty and suffering that accompanies it. A practical definition refers to it as the viewing and treatment of other persons as though they lack the mental capacities that are c ...
is a frequent feature of anti-LGBT rhetoric, which may take the form of comparing LGBT people to animals or equating homosexual relationships with bestiality.
Slurs
According to one study, "homophobic epithets foster dehumanization and avoidance of gay people, in ways that other insults or labels do not." Another study found that homophobia "results in substantial health and welfare effects".
Calls for violence
Anti-LGBT rhetoric also includes calls for violence against LGBT people
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people frequently experience violence directed toward their sexuality, gender identity, or gender expression. This violence may be enacted by the state, as in laws prescribing punishment for hom ...
and suggestions that they should be killed or die, such as in Cyprus, Iran, Russia, the United States, Malawi, or Uganda.
In Serbia, members of Obraz chanted "Death to faggots" ( sr, Смрт педерима) and posted posters stating "we are waiting for you" ( sr, чекамо вас) next to an image of a baseball bat. In 2012, the organization was banned by the Constitutional Court of Serbia
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Уставни суд Републике Србије; Ustavni sud Republike Srbije) is the court authorized to perform judicial review in Serbia. It rules on whether the laws, decrees or o ...
due to extremism.
Anti-gay themes
Anti-gay activists claim that homosexuality goes against traditional family values
Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals.
In the social sciences and U.S. political discourse, the conventi ...
, that homosexuality is a Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
, or that it destroys families and humankind through homosexual which will lead to the extinction of humanity.
Homosexuality as a cause of disasters
The argument that homosexuals cause natural disasters
A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econo ...
has been around for more than a thousand years, even before Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
blamed earthquakes on "unchecked homosexual behavior" in the sixth century. This trope was common in early modern Christian literature; homosexuals were blamed for earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues, invasions of Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
, and field mice. This discourse was revived by Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
in 1976 when she blamed homosexuals for droughts in California. In the U.S., right-wing religious groups including the Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, ...
continue to claim that homosexuals are responsible for disasters. Homosexuals have been blamed for hurricanes, including Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...
, Katrina
Katrina or Katrine may refer to:
People
* Katrina (given name)
* Katrine (given name)
Meteorology
* List of storms named Katrina, a list of tropical cyclones designated as Katrina
** Hurricane Katrina, an exceptionally powerful Atlantic hurrican ...
, and Sandy. In 2020, various religious figures including Israeli rabbi Meir Mazuz
Meir Mazuz (born March 27, 1945, in Tunisia) is a political leader and Sephardic Haredi rabbi in Israel, the dean of the Kisse Rahamim yeshivah, and the son of rabbi Matzliah Mazuz of Tunis (1912-1971), who was assassinated. Meir Mazuz serves a ...
have argued that the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
is divine retribution for same-sex activity or pride parades
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
.
Following the September 2001 attacks, televangelist Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...
blamed "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle perceived to be outside the norm for a given culture. The phrase "alternative lifestyle" is often used pejoratively. Description of a related set of activities as alternative is a defining aspect of certain ...
, the ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, People for the American Way" for provoking the aggression of Islamic fundamentalist
Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return t ...
s and causing God to withdraw his protection for America. On the broadcast of the Christian television program ''The 700 Club
''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, co ...
'', Falwell said, "You helped this happen". He later apologized and said, "I would never blame any human being except the terrorists".
In 2012, Chilean politician Ignacio Urrutia
Ignacio Urrutia Bonilla (born 16 September 1957) is a Chilean people, Chilean politician who has served in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies since 2002.
Urrutia is a supporter of Augusto Pinochet. In 2021, he campaigned and v ...
claimed that allowing homosexuals to serve in the Chilean military
The Chilean Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de Chile) is the unified military organization comprising the Chilean Army, Air Force, and Navy. The President of Chile is the commander-in-chief of the military, and formulates policy through the Mi ...
would cause Perú and Bolivia to invade and destroy his country.
AIDS as punishment
An outgrowth of the discourse on homosexuality argues that HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
is divine punishment for homosexuality. During the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, mainstream newspapers labeled it a "gay plague". For a few years the misleading technical name for the disease was gay-related immune deficiency
AIDS is caused by a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which originated in non-human primates
in Central and West Africa. While various sub-groups of the virus acquired human infectivity at different times, the present pandemic had its origins i ...
.
The slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead" appeared during the early years of AIDS in the United States, when the disease was mainly diagnosed among male homosexuals and was almost invariably fatal. The slogan caught on quickly as a catchy truism A truism is a claim that is so obvious or self-evident as to be hardly worth mentioning, except as a reminder or as a rhetorical or literary device, and is the opposite of falsism.
In philosophy, a sentence which asserts incomplete truth conditions ...
, a chant
A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...
, or simply something written as graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
. It is reported that the slogan first appeared in public in the early 1990s, when Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ha ...
, the former lead singer of the heavy metal band Skid Row
A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...
, wore it on a t-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
thrown to him by an audience member. The slogan "AIDS cures fags" is used by the Westboro Baptist Church.
Homosexuality as unnatural
Describing homosexuality as unnatural dates back to Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, and Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
. However, there is no single definition of "unnatural". Some of those who argue that homosexuality is unnatural in the sense of being absent from nature, an argument refuted by the presence of homosexuality in animals
Various non-human animal species exhibit behavior that can be interpreted as homosexual or bisexual. This may include same-sex sexual activity, courtship, affection, pair bonding, and parenting among same-sex animal pairs.Braithwaite, L. W., " ...
. Others mean that the genitals were created for reproduction (either by God or natural selection) and are not intended to be used for purposes they deem " unnatural". Proponents of this idea often argue that homosexuality is immoral because it is unnatural, but opponents argue that this argument makes an is–ought conflation. Some proponents of the "unnaturalness" thesis argue that homosexual behavior is the result of "" or willful sinfulness. However, if the causes of sexual orientation (still a matter of scientific debate) are biological
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
, this undermines their argument to an extent.
Homosexuality as a disease
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
described homosexuality as a contagious disease but not in the medical sense. Rather, homosexuality was a disease of the (national body), a metaphor for the desired national or racial community (). According to Nazi ideology, individuals' lives were to be subordinated to the like cells in the human body. Homosexuality was seen as a virus or cancer in the because it was seen as a threat to the German nation. The SS newspaper ''Das Schwarze Korps
''Das Schwarze Korps'' (; German for "The Black Corps") was the official newspaper of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. All SS members were encouraged to read it. The chief edit ...
'' argued that 40,000 homosexuals were capable of "poisoning" two million men if left to roam free.
Some of those who called homosexuality , such as Traditional Values Coalition
The Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) was an American conservative Christian organization. It was founded in Orange County, California by Rev. Louis P. Sheldon to oppose LGBT rights. Sheldon's daughter, Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, was the execut ...
head and Christian right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...
activist Louis Sheldon
Louis P. Sheldon (June 11, 1934 – May 29, 2020) was an American Presbyterian pastor, and then Anglican priest, and chairman of the social conservative organization, the Traditional Values Coalition.
He principally spoke and wrote about controv ...
, said that if it were proven to be a biologically based phenomenon, it would still be diseased. The psychiatric establishment in the west once medicalized same-sex desire. In the United States, homosexuality was removed in 1973 as a mental disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...
(DSM) as it did not meet the criteria for a mental disorder. The Catholic Church still officially teaches that "homosexual tendencies" are "objectively disordered". In 2016, anti-LGBT rhetoric was increasing in Indonesia under the Twitter hashtag #TolakLGBT (#RejectLGBT) and claims that LGBT is a disease. In 2019, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski
Marek Jędraszewski (born 24 July 1949) is a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who has been Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków since 8 December 2016. He served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Łódź from 2012 to 2017. He has also been Vice-Pres ...
claimed that a "rainbow plague" is threatening Poland. In 2020, the education minister defended an official who warned that "LGBT virus" was threatening Polish schools, and was more dangerous than COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Homosexuality as a choice or lifestyle
Closely related to the idea of " homosexual recruitment" is the idea of a "gay lifestyle" or "homosexual lifestyle", which social and religious conservatives in the United States sometimes argue that lesbian, gay, and bisexual people have chosen voluntarily rather than having a non-heterosexual sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
.
However, people typically feel no sense of control over their sexual orientation or attractions, and biological explanations for sexual orientation are favoured by scientists.
The term "gay lifestyle" may also be used disparagingly for a series of stereotyped behaviours.
US media in the 1970s frequently used the term "alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle perceived to be outside the norm for a given culture. The phrase "alternative lifestyle" is often used pejoratively. Description of a related set of activities as alternative is a defining aspect of certain ...
" as a euphemism for homosexuality, and the term was employed in an anti-gay context by opponents of the Equal Rights Amendment
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...
, as well as supporters of California's Proposition 6, which would have barred openly gay teachers in public schools.
Christian right activists may worry that increasing LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
will make the "gay lifestyle" more attractive to young people.
US president Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
used the language of choice to portray the gay rights movement
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...
as being in opposition to American culture, saying the movement was "asking for a recognition and acceptance of an alternative lifestyle which I do not believe society can condone".
Homosexuality as sinful or ungodly
Many conservative Christians consider homosexual acts to be inherently sinful based on scriptural passages such as Leviticus 18:22 ("You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination"), Leviticus 20:13 ("If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them"), and 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 ("Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.") The story of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah () were two legendary biblical cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28). They are mentioned frequ ...
, two biblical cities which were burned down due to the sins of its inhabitants, is sometimes portrayed as divine retribution for homosexual behavior.
Various inflammatory and controversial slogans, including some listed in the next section, have been used by opponent congregations and individuals, particularly by Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American minister who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in Kansas. He gained nation ...
, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, ...
. These slogans have included "God Hates Fags", "Fear God Not Fags", and "Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Pou ...
Burns In Hell".
Homosexuality is also frequently considered sinful in Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. In some Middle Eastern countries, acts of homosexuality are punishable by death. Anti-LGBT rhetoric and political homophobia are growing in some Muslim countries.
Other religious leaders including Christians, Muslims, and Jews have denounced anti-LGBT rhetoric.
The slogan "God made Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
, not Adam and Steve" alludes to a Bible-based argument that homosexuality is sinful and unnatural.
A ''Christianity Today'' article in December 1970 reported on attitudes in San Francisco, quoting a graffiti that said, "If God had wanted homosexuals, he would have created Adam and Freddy." In 1977, in Dade County, Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
made a similar comment, only her version was "Adam and Bruce". By 1979, Jerry Falwell had used "Adam and Steve".[Christianity Today, 16 November 1979, p.48, as quoted in ] In 1977, it was used on a protest sign, as mentioned in a ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' news service report about a November 19 rally in Houston that year. The phrase was used in "The Gay Bar", an episode of '' Maude'' broadcast on December 3, 1977. Two years later, Jerry Falwell
Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...
gave the phrase wider circulation in a ''Christianity Today
''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...
'' report of a press conference he had given. The phrase later acquired a certain notoriety, and, when used to name a pair of characters in a work of fiction, helps to identify them as members of a homosexual pair (Paul Rudnick
Paul Rudnick (born December 29, 1957) is an American writer. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world. He is also known for having written the screenplays for several movies, including ''Sister Act'', ''Addams F ...
's play ''The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told
'' The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told'' is a metaphysical/existentialist comedy written in 1998 by Paul Rudnick.
Plot
Original Production
The play was originally produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on the Nikos Stage, opening on ...
'', the 2005 film ''Adam & Steve
''Adam & Steve'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by and starring Craig Chester, who also wrote the screenplay. It deals with the lives of two gay men, played by Craig Chester and Malcolm Gets. The film had its UK premier on Novem ...
'' and other works). The phrase was used by the Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
MP David Simpson during the 2013 British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
' debate on same-sex marriage, although a slip of the tongue saying "in the Garden of Eden, it was Adam and Steve" initially caused laughter in the chamber. Zimbabwean presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa
Nelson Chamisa (born 2 February 1978) is a Zimbabwean politician and the current President of the Citizens Coalition For Change. He served as Member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana East, Harare. Chamisa was the MDC Allianc ...
said in an interview that " must be able to respect what God ordained and how we are created as a people, there are a male and a female, there are Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve". The phrase was also reclaimed by LGBT people and used in blogs, comics, and other media mocking the anti-gay message.
Homosexuality as a Western ill
Homosexuality is sometimes claimed to be non-existent in some non-Western countries, or to be an evil influence imported from the West.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
of Malayasia employed anti-gay rhetoric as part of his "Asian values" program, describing homosexuality as one of several Western ills.
Mohamad used it for political advantage in the 1998 scandal involving the sacking and jailing of MP and former Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...
by Mohamad amidst accusations of sodomy that the ''Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' termed a "blatantly political fix-up". Anwar was subsequently subjected to two trials and sentenced to nine years imprisonment for corruption and sodomy.
While in New York for a meeting of the United Nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), was invited to speak at Columbia University in New York to give a lecture. When responding to a student question afterward, he said, speaking through an interpreter: "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country." In his native Farsi
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...
, he used the slang equivalent of ''faggot'', not the neutral term for a "homosexual".
Other countries and regions viewing homosexuality as a Western disease include Vietnam, China, Ethiopia, Africa, Australian Muslims, and India.
Conflation with child abuse
The claim that homosexuals sexually abuse children predates the current era, as it was leveled against pederasts even during antiquity. Lawmakers and social commentators have sometimes expressed a concern that normalizing homosexuality would also lead to normalizing pedophilia, if it were determined that pedophilia too were a sexual orientation. A related claim is that LGBT adoption
Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child (stepchild adoption).
Joint ad ...
is done for the purpose of grooming children for sexual exploitation. The empirical research shows that sexual orientation does not affect the likelihood that people will abuse children.
Others have made hoaxes intending to falsely associate pedophilia with the LGBT community by rebranding it as a sexual orientation, including claims that the "+" in "LGBT+" refers to "pedophiles, zoophiles, ndnecrophiles
Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) in its ' ...
", as well as the invented terms "agefluid", "clovergender" (a hoax executed by users of the imageboard
An imageboard is a type of Internet forum that focuses on the posting of images, often alongside text and discussion. The first imageboards were created in Japan as an extension of the textboard concept. These sites later inspired the creation of ...
4chan
4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...
, whose logo is a stylized four-leaf clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, though it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is ...
), and "pedosexual".
Starting in 2022, some conservatives started using the terms "grooming", "groomer" and "pro-pedophile" against their opponents and LGBT people over anti-LGBT legislation, such as laws restricting and banning discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Critics say that these usages of the terms diminish the experiences of sexual assault survivors, smear the LGBT community, and are dangerous in general.
"Gay agenda"
Recruitment
The charge of "homosexual recruitment" is an allegation by social conservatives that LGBT people engage in concerted efforts to indoctrinate children into homosexuality. In the United States, this dates back to the early post-war era. Proponents were found especially among the New Right, as epitomized by Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...
. In her Save Our Children
Save Our Children, Inc. was an American political coalition formed in 1977 in Miami, Florida, to overturn a recently legislated county ordinance that banned discrimination in areas of housing, employment, and public accommodation based on sexua ...
campaign, she promoted a view of homosexuals recruiting youth. A common slogan is "Homosexuals cannot reproduce — so they must recruit" or its variants. Supporters of recruitment allegations point at "deviant" and "prurient" sex education
Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual acti ...
as evidence. They express concern that anti-bullying efforts teach that "homosexuality is normal, and that students shouldn't harass their classmates because they're gay", suggesting recruitment as the primary motivation. Supporters of this myth cite the inability for same-sex couples
A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...
to reproduce as a motivation for recruitment.
Sociologists and psychologists describe such claims as an anti-gay myth, and a fear-inducing bogeyman
The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...
. Many critics believe the term promotes the myth of homosexuals as pedophiles .
* In 1977, Anita Bryant successfully campaigned to repeal an ordinance in Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...
that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
. Her campaign was based upon allegations of homosexual recruitment. Writing about Bryant's efforts to repeal a Florida anti-discrimination law in the ''Journal of Social History'', Michel Boucai wrote that "Bryant's organization, Save Our Children, framed the law as an endorsement of immorality and a license for 'recruitment'."
* Oregon's proposed 1992 Ballot Measure 9
''Ballot Measure 9'' is a 1995 documentary film directed and produced by Heather MacDonald. The film examines the cultural and political battle that took place in 1992 over Oregon Ballot Measure 9, a citizens' initiative proposition that would ...
contained language that would have added anti-LGBT rhetoric to the state Constitution. U.S. writer Judith Reisman
Judith Ann Reisman (; April 11, 1935 – April 9, 2021) was an American conservative author, best known for her criticism and condemnation of the work and legacy of Alfred Kinsey. She has been referred to as the "founder of the modern anti-Kinsey ...
justified her support for the measure, citing "a clear avenue for the recruitment of children" by gays and lesbians.
* A small newspaper in Uganda's capital attracted international attention in 2010 when it outed 100 gay people alongside a banner that said, "Hang them", and claimed that homosexuals aimed to "recruit" Ugandan children, and that schools had "been penetrated by gay activists to recruit kids." According to gay rights activists, many Ugandans were attacked afterward as a result of their real or perceived sexual orientation. Minorities activist David Kato
David Kato Kisule ( – 26 January 2011) was a Ugandan teacher and LGBT rights activist, considered a father of Uganda's gay rights movement and described as "Uganda's first openly gay man". He served as advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities ...
, who was outed in the article and a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit against the paper, was subsequently murdered at home by an intruder and an international outcry resulted.
* In 1998, ''The Onion
''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is based in Chicago but originated as a weekly print publication on August 2 ...
'' parodied the idea of "homosexual recruitment" in an article titled "'98 Homosexual-Recruitment Drive Nearing Goal", saying "Spokespersons for the National Gay & Lesbian Recruitment Task Force announced Monday that more than 288,000 straights have been converted to homosexuality since January 1, 1998, putting the group well on pace to reach its goal of 350,000 conversions by the end of the year." According to Mimi Marinucci, most US adults who support gay rights would recognize the story as satire due to unrealistic details. The Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is a small American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. Labeled a hate group, WBC is known for engaging in homophobic and anti-American pickets, ...
passed along the story as fact, citing it as evidence of a gay conspiracy.
Homosexual conspiracies
"Homintern"
In 1937, the English gay classics scholar Sir Maurice Bowra
Sir Cecil Maurice Bowra, (; 8 April 1898 – 4 July 1971) was an English classical scholar, literary critic and academic, known for his wit. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, from 1938 to 1970, and served as Vice-Chancellor of the Univer ...
referred to himself as part of the "Homintern". However, there are competing claims about who coined the term – including Jocelyn Brooke
Bernard Jocelyn Brooke (30 November 1908 – 29 October 1966) was an English writer and naturalist. He wrote several unique, semi-autobiographical novels, as well as some poetry. His most famous works include the Orchid Trilogy—''The Mil ...
, Harold Norse
Harold Norse (July 6, 1916, New York City – June 8, 2009, San Francisco) was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse w ...
and W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
. A takeoff on "Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
" (Communist International), it was meant to convey the idea of a global homosexual community.
Auden used the term in the ''Partisan Review
''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affiliated John ...
'' in 1950, entitling his review of a book on Oscar Wilde: ''"A Playboy of the Western World: St. Oscar, the Homintern Martyr."''
"Homintern" was also used by American Senator Joe McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most vis ...
during the McCarthyist
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner.
The term origina ...
scare in the 1950s, who used it to claim that the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
were set on destroying America from within. Attempts were made to link Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and homosexuality, with "Homintern" a play on the word "Comintern" (the short name of the Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
). But the word was also used ironically by those in favor of gay rights.
''Homintern'' also appeared in a number of mass-circulation magazine articles during the 1960s – such as '' Ramparts'', which in 1966 published an article by Gene Marine about the Homintern. It was also frequently used in the conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
magazine ''National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
''. William F. Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
would warn of the machinations of the Homintern on his TV talk show '' Firing Line'' – feeding the conservative belief that the Homintern deliberately manipulated culture to encourage homosexuality by promoting camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
programs such as the popular 1960s TV series ''Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
''. Such magazine articles were often illustrated with the color lavender and the Homintern was sometimes called the "lavender conspiracy". It was subsequently claimed that there was a secret worldwide network of gay art gallery
An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...
owners, ballet directors, movie producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
s, record label executives and photographers who, behind the scenes, determined who would become successful artists, dancers, actors, and models.
The historian Michael S. Sherry
Michael S. Sherry (born 1945) is an American historian, and professor of history emeritus at Northwestern University.
Life
He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis ''summa cum laude'', and from Yale University with an MA and Ph.D. in ...
has used the term ''hominterm discourse'' "for the untidy bundle of ideas and accusations about the gay creative presence".
"Gaystapo"
The term "Gaystapo" (french: link=no, Gestapette) was coined in France in the 1940s by political satirist Jean Galtier-Boissière for the Vichy
Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais.
It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...
education minister, Abel Bonnard
Abel Bonnard (19 December 1883 31 May 1968) was a French poet, novelist and politician.
Biography
Born in Poitiers, Vienne, his early education was in Marseilles with secondary studies at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. A student of literatu ...
. It was subsequently applied by National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015.
Le Pen graduated fro ...
to Florian Philippot
Florian Philippot (born 24 October 1981) is a French politician. He served as Vice President of the National Front (France), National Front from 2012 to 2017 before quitting the party to found The Patriots (France), The Patriots in September 201 ...
, whom he accused of being a bad influence on Marine Le Pen
Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
.
"Gay mafia"
The English critic Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...
wrote to A.C. Spectorsky (editor of ''Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'') in 1967 proposing an article on the "Homosexual Mafia" in the arts. Spectorsky declined, although he stated that "culture hounds were paying homage to faggotismo as they have never done before". ''Playboy'' would subsequently run a panel on gay issues in April 1971.
"Gay mafia" became more widely used in the US media in the 1980s and 1990s, such as the American daily ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''. The term was also used by the British tabloid '' The Sun'' in 1998 in response to what it claimed was sinister dominance by gay men in the Labour Party Cabinet.
"Lavender mafia"
While the term "Lavender Mafia" has occasionally been used to refer to informal networks of gay executives in the US entertainment industry
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...
, more generally it refers to Church politics. For example, a faction within the leadership and clergy of the Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
that allegedly advocates the acceptance of homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
within the Church and its teachings.
"Gay lobby"
The term "homo lobby" or "gay lobby" is often used by opponents of LGBT rights in Europe.
For example, the Swedish neo-Nazi party Nordic Resistance Movement
The Nordic Resistance Movement; Norwegian: nb, Nordiske motstandsbevegelsen, NMB; nn, Nordiske motstandsrørsla NMR; fi, Pohjoismainen Vastarintaliike, PVL; is, Norræna mótstöðuhreyfingin, NMH; da, Den nordiske modstandsbevægelse, ...
runs a "crush the homo lobby" campaign.
According to the German newspaper ''Der Tagesspiegel
''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...
'', advocating for LGBT rights could accurately be called lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
, but the term ('gay lobby') is insulting because it is used to suggest a powerful conspiracy which does not actually exist.
= In Catholicism
=
In 2013, Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
spoke about a "gay lobby" within the Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
, and promised to see what could be done. In July 2013, Francis went on to draw a distinction between the problem of lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
and the sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
of people: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" "The problem", he said, "is not having this orientation. We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...
lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."
Anti-transgender rhetoric
Misgendering
Misgendering is the act of labelling others with a gender that does not match their gender identity. Misgendering can be deliberate or accidental. It can involve using pronouns to describe someone that are not the ones they use, calling a person "ma'am" or "sir" in contradiction to the person's gender identity, and using a pre-transition name for someone instead of a post-transition one (deadnaming
Deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name. Deadnaming may be unintentional, or a deliberate attempt to deny, mock or invalidate a person's g ...
).
Deception and masquerade
Some terms often considered to be anti-trans such as ''shemale
Shemale (also spelled she-male; also she-man and he-she) is a term most commonly used in the pornography industry to describe trans women or other people with male genitalia and female secondary sex characteristics (including breasts) acquired v ...
, trap,'' and ''ladyboy'' are perceived to promote the belief trans women
A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...
are men masquerading as women. The concept of a person whose gender identity differs from their assigned birth sex has often been twisted into jokes about how repulsive such a person must be.
Bathroom predators
In response to a growing push for anti-discrimination bills regarding public restrooms, Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...
delivered this message to a National Religious Broadcasters Convention during his 2016 bid for the presidency:Huckabee's joke prompted backlash from LGBT leaders, including Rebecca Issacs, the executive director of Equality Federation
Equality Federation is a social justice, advocacy and capacity building organization serving and supporting state-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organizations in the United States.
History
In 1997, a group of stat ...
, who said in an email to ''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'': "Everyone needs to use the restroom and everyone cares about safety and privacy. Despite recent gains in visibility, transgender people continue to face extraordinarily high rates of discrimination and violence."
In 2015, conservative group Campaign for Houston released an advertisement targeting Houston Proposition 1, an anti-discriminatory bill that would protect transgender peoples' rights to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
. The video, which implies the sexual assault of a young girl, was decried as "the definition of transphobia" by J. Brian Lowder, an associate editor for ''Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' and author for its LGBTQ section.
In feminism
Some positions within feminist theory have used denialist rhetoric viewed as transphobic. Those that hold these positions are known as trans-exclusionary radical feminists
TERF () is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term was originally used to distinguish trans-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists who reject the assertion that trans women are wome ...
, or "TERF" for short. This term was coined by feminist blogger Viv Smythe in 2008 as a value-neutral descriptor of feminists that engage in denialism.
In 1979, American radical feminist Janice Raymond published '' The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male''. In it, she wrote that, "All transsexuals rape women's bodies by reducing the real female form to an artifact, appropriating this body for themselves." A common position in radical feminism maintain that trans women are not women in a literal sense and should not be in women-only spaces.
Some second-wave feminists perceive trans men and women respectively as "traitors" and "infiltrators" to womanhood. In a 1997 article British lesbian feminist Sheila Jeffreys
Sheila Jeffreys (born 13 May 1948) is a former professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, born in England. A lesbian feminist scholar, she analyses the history and politics of human sexuality.
Jeffreys' argument that the "se ...
wrote that should be seen as a violation of human rights." Jeffreys also argued that by transitioning medically and socially, trans women are "constructing a conservative fantasy of what women should be. They are inventing an essence of womanhood which is deeply insulting and restrictive."[Pdf.]
/ref> In the late 2010s, this rhetoric evolved into the claim that transgender women force themselves on cisgender
Cisgender (often shortened to cis; sometimes cissexual) is a term used to describe a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth. The word ''cisgender'' is the antonym of ''transgender''. The prefix ''wiktionary:cis ...
lesbians by using accusations of transphobia as a guilt trip
A guilt trip is a feeling of guilt or responsibility, especially an unjustified one induced by someone else.
Overview
Creating a guilt trip in another person may be considered to be manipulation in the form of punishment for a perceived transg ...
.
Legality and censorship
Hate speech
Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
against LGBT people, or incitement to hatred against them, is criminalized in some countries.
See also
* Biphobia
Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and bisexual people as individuals. It is a form of homophobia against those in the bisexual community. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative s ...
* " Drop the T"
* Homophobic propaganda
Homophobic propaganda (or anti-gay propaganda) is propaganda based on homonegativity and homophobia towards homosexual and sometimes other non-heterosexual people. Such propaganda supports anti-gay prejudices and stereotypes, and promotes socia ...
* Lavender scare
The "lavender scare" was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign wh ...
* Lesbophobia
Lesbophobia comprises various forms of prejudice and negativity towards lesbians as individuals, as couples, or as a social group. Based on the categories of sex, sexual orientation, identity, and gender expression, this negativity encompasse ...
* LGBT stereotypes
Stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are based on their sexual orientations, gender identities, or gender expressions. Stereotypical perceptions may be acquired through interactions with parents, teachers, peers ...
*
* Religion and homosexuality
The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. The present-day doctrines ...
* Societal attitudes toward homosexuality
Societal attitudes toward homosexuality vary greatly across different cultures and historical periods, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. All cultures have their own values regarding appropriate and ina ...
* Transmisogyny
Transmisogyny, otherwise known as trans-misogyny and transphobic misogyny, is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny as experienced by trans women and transfeminine people. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book ''Whipping ...
Notes
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Lgbt Slogans
Anti-LGBT sentiment
Defamation
Framing (social sciences)
Hate speech
LGBT and society
Majority–minority relations
Persecution of LGBT people
Political communication
Populism
Rhetoric
Social conservatism