Hungary and Poland: a strong anti-gender movement in the European Union : from communism to anti-genderism

Abstract

There is something both admirable and saddening in the fact that when Simone de Beauvoir wrote in 1949, ‘Never forget that it will be enough for a political, economic or religious crisis for the rights of women to be called into question. These rights are never acquired. You will have to remain vigilant throughout your life.’ She would still be right in 2023. Even worse so, is to realise that this extends to other marginalised groups such as the LGBTQ+ community and that this is relatable in the European Union. In the EU, rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community are currently endangered by a ‘war on gender’ represented by anti-gender movements coming from Poland and Hungary who are now infamous illiberal democracies with right-wing populist governments. In this thesis, I argue that the democratic transitions from communism to consolidated democracies of both Poland and Hungary constitute a legacy for the movement, which is reinforced by the illiberal, populism and especially conservative government in power and has consequences not only on women and the LGBTQ+ community but also in the EU who keeps acting and reacting to the backlash which is part of the EU values crisis.