View source for Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric

{{Short description|Rhetoric against LGBTQ people}}
{{About|themes, catchphrases, and slogans used against LGBTQ people|organized opposition|Opposition to LGBTQ rights}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Discrimination sidebar|Manifestations}}
{{LGBTQ sidebar|issues}}

'''Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric''' comprises themes, [[catchphrase]]s, and [[slogan]]s that have been used in order to demean [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], and [[queer]] ([[LGBTQ]]) people. Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric is widely considered a form of [[hate speech]],<ref name="Hate Speech and Hate Crimes">{{cite web |url=https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/1226-Factsheet-homophobia-hate-speech-crime_EN.pdf |title=Hate Speech and Hate Crimes against LGBT Persons |publisher=European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights |date=2009 |access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref> which is illegal in countries such as the [[Netherlands]],<ref name="Dutch penal code"/> [[Norway]],<ref name="Norwegian penal code"/> and [[Sweden]].<ref name="Morén 2012"/>

Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric often consists of [[moral panic]] and conspiracy theories. [[LGBTQ movements]] and individuals are often portrayed as subversive and foreign, similar to earlier [[Antisemitic trope|conspiracy theories targeting Jews]] and [[Red scare|communists]].<ref name="Herdt 2009">{{cite book |last=Herdt |first=Gilbert |editor-last=Herdt |editor-first=Gilbert |author-link=Gilbert Herdt |title=Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight Over Sexual Rights |date=2009 |publisher=New York University Press |pages=163–164 |isbn=978-0-8147-3723-1 |chapter=Gay Marriage: The Panic and the Right |quote=During the heyday of rising anti-homosexual rhetoric, communism was frequently mentioned in the same narratives as sexual perversion. [...] The accusation of homosexuality was a de facto accusation of Communism pure and simple [...] It is remarkable that earlier capitalist and fascist rhetoric shared the common enemy of Communist/homosexual/Jew.}}</ref><ref name="Klosowska 2011">{{cite book |last1=Klosowska |first1=Anna |editor1-last=Román-Odio |editor1-first=C. |editor2-last=Sierra |editor2-first=M. |title=Transnational Borderlands in Women's Global Networks: The Making of Cultural Resistance |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-230-11947-5 |chapter=Trouble in the Global Village: A Snapshot of LGBT Community in Eastern Europe |date=2011 |doi=10.1057/9780230119475_9 |series=Comparative Feminist Studies |page=188 |quote=In the nation-states of Eastern Europe twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the discursive structures of paranoia and conspiracy theory applied to the LGBT community seem directly transferred from the anti-Semitic tradition of Jewish conspiracy strongly present in these countries.}}</ref><ref name="Sherry 2007">{{cite book |last=Sherry |first=Michael S. |title=Gay Artists in Modern American Culture: An Imagined Conspiracy |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |year=2007 |pages=56–57 |isbn=978-0-8078-3121-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/gayartistsinmode00sher/page/n6/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |quote=Just when World War II raised the stature of psychiatry, they sought respectability, patriotic credentials, and professional power in their new land by attacking a despised group and linking it to erstwhile fascist or newfound communist enemies. [...] That [some psychoanalysts] attached to homosexuals the stereotypes inflicted on Jews was a grim irony compounded by the fact that many queer artists were Jewish. Their 'frequent ignorant portrayal of the sad and desperate lives of practicing homosexuals,' [Kenneth] Lewes asserts, derived from 'vicious stereotypes' that 'found their models in anti-Semitic and racist propaganda.'}}</ref>

== As a foreign conspiracy ==
<!-- [[File:02019 0071 (2) Rechte Demo der Unterstützung für die homophobe Predigt von Erzbischof Marek Jedraszewski.jpg|thumb|Protest in favor of the "rainbow plague" statements of [[Marek Jedraszewski]]. Sign says: not brown, not red, not rainbow: independent]] -->

In 1969, the [[Greek junta]] exited the [[Council of Europe]] after being found in violation of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]], judging that the [[European Commission of Human Rights]] was "a conspiracy of homosexuals and communists against Hellenic values".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Madsen |first1=Mikael Rask |title=Principled Resistance to ECtHR Judgments - A New Paradigm? |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-662-58986-1 |pages=35–52 |chapter=Resistance to the European Court of Human Rights: The Institutional and Sociological Consequences of Principled Resistance |series=Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht |volume=285 |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-58986-1_2 |s2cid=210655765}}</ref>

This discourse, promoted by the governments of Hungary and Poland, alleges that [[LGBTQ rights movements]] are controlled by foreign forces (such as the [[European Union]]) and are a threat to national independence and western civilization.<ref>{{cite news |title=Poland will not let EU 'force' it into allowing gay marriages, says justice minister |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-eu-lgbt/poland-will-not-let-eu-force-it-into-allowing-gay-marriages-says-justice-minister-idUSKCN24L2E7 |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=Reuters |date=20 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ayoub |first1=Phillip |last2=Paternotte |first2=David |title=LGBT Activism and the Making of Europe: A Rainbow Europe? |date=20 October 2014 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-39176-6 |url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ayoub |first1=Phillip M. |title=With Arms Wide Shut: Threat Perception, Norm Reception, and Mobilized Resistance to LGBT Rights |journal=Journal of Human Rights |date=2014 |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=337–362 |doi=10.1080/14754835.2014.919213 |s2cid=145577747}}</ref><ref name="Harari 2019">{{cite news |last1=Harari |first1=Yuval Noah |title=50 years after Stonewall: Yuval Noah Harari on the new threats to LGBT rights |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/22/fifty-years-after-the-stonewall-riots-yuval-noah-harari-on-the-new-threats-to-lgbt-freedom |access-date=25 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=22 June 2019}}</ref> Anti-government protests in Russia and the [[Euromaidan]] have also been portrayed by the Russian government as the work of an LGBTQ conspiracy.<ref name="Harari 2019" /> Furthermore, although Russia considers itself to be a European country, its government also considers its values as entirely different from those of the European Union. More specifically, Russia has distanced itself from the values of the EU by propagating its own anti-LGBTQ values.<ref name="Verpoest 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Verpoest |first=Lien |date=2017 |title=The End of Rhetorics: LGBT policies in Russia and the European Union |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26531664 |journal=Studia Diplomatica |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=3–20 |jstor=26531664 |issn=0770-2965}}</ref>

== <span class="anchor" id="LGBT ideology"></span> As an ideology ==
{{see also|Anti-gender movement}}
{{anchor|LGBTQ ideology}}
[[File:Strefa wolna od LGBT - cropped, background removes.jpg|thumb|[[LGBT-free zone]] stickers distributed by the ''[[Gazeta Polska]]'' newspaper, 2019]]

In 2013, the conservative blog ''[[American Thinker]]'' published several articles using the phrase "'''LGBT ideology'''".<ref name="Leszczyński 2020" /> The Italian Catholic philosopher {{ill|Roberto Marchesini|it}} used the phrase in a 2015 article, equating it with the earlier concept of "[[gender ideology]]". In his article he does not define either "LGBT ideology" or "gender ideology".<ref name="Leszczyński 2020">{{cite news |last1=Leszczyński |first1=Adam |title='Ideologia LGBT'. Co mówi o niej Andrzej Duda, biskupi i islamiści? |trans-title='LGBT ideology'. What do Andrzej Duda, bishops and Islamists say about it? |url=https://oko.press/duda-islamisci-o-lgbt/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=OKO.press |language=pl |date=17 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="Marchesini 2018">{{cite book |last=Marchesini |first=Roberto |chapter=The Church and Same-Sex Attraction |editor1=Brambilla, Giorgia |editor2=Tham, Joseph |title=Sexuality, Gender & Education |date=2018 |publisher=IF Press |location=Rome |isbn=978-88-6788-141-3 |page=206 |chapter-url=}}</ref> In 2017, several conservative Islamic politicians in Malaysia and Indonesia denounced "LGBT ideology".<ref name="Leszczyński 2020"/><ref name="Bosia 2020">{{cite book |last1=Bosia |first1=Michael J. |last2=McEvoy |first2=Sandra M. |last3=Rahman |first3=Momin |title=The Oxford Handbook of Global Lgbt and Sexual Diversity Politics |year=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-067374-1 |page=455}}</ref>

During a sermon on 1 August 2019, Polish Archbishop [[Marek Jędraszewski]] called "LGBT ideology" a "rainbow plague" and compared it to the "[[Red Plague]]" of [[Communism]].<ref name="Scally 2019">{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/polish-archbishop-compares-lgbti-community-to-red-plague-1.3975389 |title=Polish archbishop compares LGBTI community to 'red plague' |last=Scally |first=Derek |date=2 August 2019 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=2 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://tvnwarszawa.tvn24.pl/informacje,news,arcybiskup-mowil-o-teczowej-zarazie-powstancy-oburzeni,296972.html |title=Arcybiskup mówił o 'tęczowej zarazie'. Powstańcy oburzeni |trans-title=The Archbishop spoke of the 'rainbow plague'. The insurgents are outraged |website=TVN Warszawa |date=9 August 2019 |publisher=TVN |language=pl |access-date=12 August 2019}}</ref> Following this, the Czech cardinal [[Dominik Duka]] also commented on "LGBT ideology". However, because [[Religion in the Czech Republic|Czech society is secular]] and the Catholic Church has little influence on Czech politics, his comments had little impact.<ref name="Leszczyński 2020"/> In September 2019, Stanley Bill, a lecturer at [[Cambridge University]] 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".<ref name="Gregory 2019">{{cite news |date=28 September 2019 |title=Police fire tear gas and arrest dozens of far-right protesters attempting to disrupt LGBT+ march |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/far-right-lgbt-poland-protesters-equality-lublin-law-justice-party-a9124696.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/far-right-lgbt-poland-protesters-equality-lublin-law-justice-party-a9124696.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In June 2020, Polish President [[Andrzej Duda]] drew international attention when he called [[LGBTQ]] an "[[ideology]]" and a form of "Neo-Bolshevism".<ref name="Hoffman 2020">{{cite news |last1=Hoffman |first1=Steven |title=What is 'LGBT ideology,' and why are Polish people talking about it? |url=http://www.krakowpost.com/22453/2020/06/what-is-lgbt-ideology-and-why-are-polish-people-talking-about-it |access-date=5 August 2020 |work=The Krakow Post |date=20 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dellanna |first1=Alessio |title=LGBT campaigners denounce President Duda's comments on 'communism' |url=https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/15/polish-president-says-lgbt-ideology-is-worse-than-communism |access-date=5 August 2020 |work=Euronews |date=15 June 2020}}</ref> [[Agreement (political party)|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 {{ill|Katarzyna Kolenda-Zaleska|pl}} asking him to leave the studio; the row caused controversy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barejka |first1=Piotr |title=Jacek Żalek wyjaśnia, czym jest 'ideologia LGBT'. I jak w 'imię wolności wyklucza' |trans-title=Jacek Żalek explains what 'LGBT ideology' is. And as in 'in the name of freedom excludes' |url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/jacek-zalek-wyjasnia-czym-jest-ideologia-lgbt-i-jak-w-imie-wolnosci-wyklucza-6521001957918849a |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Wiadomosci.wp.pl |date=13 June 2020 |language=pl}}</ref> The next day, Duda said at a rally in Silesia: "They are trying to convince us that [LGBT] is people, but it is just an ideology."<ref>{{cite news |title=Poland's LGBT community speaks up: 'We are people, not an ideology' |url=https://kafkadesk.org/2020/06/24/poland-lgbt-community-speaks-up-we-are-people-not-an-ideology/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Kafkadesk |date=24 June 2020}}</ref> He promised to "ban the propagation of LGBT ideology in public institutions", including schools, similar to the [[Russian gay propaganda law]].<ref name="Krawczyk 2020" /> On the same day, PiS MP [[Przemysław Czarnek]] said on a [[TVP Info]] 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."<ref name="Krawczyk 2020" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://polskatimes.pl/przemyslaw-czarnek-o-zdjeciu-z-osobami-lgbt-ci-ludzie-nie-sa-rowni-normalnym-ludziom/ar/c1-15025218 |title=Przemysław Czarnek o zdjęciu z osobami LGBT: Ci ludzie nie są równi normalnym ludziom |trans-title=Przemysław Czarnek about the photo with LGBT people: These people are not equal to normal people |language=pl |access-date=21 August 2020 |work=Polska Times |date=14 June 2020}}</ref>

In July 2020, the [[European Union]] announced that it will not provide funding to six Polish towns that have declared themselves "[[LGBT-free zone]]s", after nearly 100 local governments, a third of Poland's territory, declared themselves "free from LGBT ideology."<ref name="Pronczuk 2020">{{cite news |last=Pronczuk |first=Monika |date=30 July 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/world/europe/LGBT-free-poland-EU-funds.html |title=Polish Towns That Declared Themselves 'L.G.B.T. Free' Are Denied E.U. Funds |work=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}</ref> On 1 August 2020, the anniversary of the [[Warsaw Uprising]], ultranationalist [[Robert Winnicki]] 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."<ref name="Santora 2020">{{cite news |last1=Santora |first1=Marc |title=In Poland, the Rainbow Flag Is Wrapped Up in a Broader Culture War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/world/europe/poland-rainbow-flag-statues.html |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=6 August 2020 |url-access=limited}}</ref> 

In August 2020, Justice Minister [[Zbigniew Ziobro]] 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".<ref>{{cite news |title=Kuriozalny projekt finansowany przez Fundusz Sprawiedliwości. Chodzi o przestępstwa 'popełniane pod wpływem ideologii LGBT' |trans-title=A bizarre project financed by the Justice Fund. It's about crimes 'committed under the influence of LGBT ideology' |url=https://bezprawnik.pl/przestepstwa-pod-wplywem-ideologii-lgbt/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Bezprawnik |date=5 August 2020 |language=pl-PL}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Powstanie książka o rzekomych przestępstwach popełnianych pod wpływem 'ideologii LGBT'. Zapłaci ministerstwo |trans-title=There will be a book about alleged crimes committed under the influence of 'LGBT ideology'. The Ministry will pay |url=https://www.tokfm.pl/Tokfm/7,103087,26192859,powstanie-ksiazka-o-rzekomych-przestepstwach-popelnianych-pod.html |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=TOK FM |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=IBA – IBAHRI condemns LGBTQI+ rights crackdown in Poland |url=https://www.ibanet.org/Article/NewDetail.aspx?ArticleUid=0ce7ba4e-9a8f-48df-89d0-3a4e730047dc |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Ibanet.org}}</ref> The project, among other things, explores a supposed connection between LGBT ideology and the [[Frankfurt School]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burnetko |first1=Krzysztof |title=Strażnicy pamięci i resort Ziobry walczą z 'inwazją LGBT' |trans-title=Memory guardians and Ziobro's resort are fighting the 'LGBT invasion' |url=https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1966652,1,straznicy-pamieci-i-resort-ziobry-walcza-z-inwazja-lgbt.read |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=[[Polityka]] |date=6 August 2020 |language=pl}}</ref> At the 16 August "[[Stop LGBT aggression]]" rally that year, [[Krzysztof Bosak]] 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".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mazzini |first1=Mateusz |title=Narodowcy zapowiadają ofensywę anty-LGBT |trans-title=Nationalists announce an anti-LGBT offensive |url=https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/1967766,1,narodowcy-zapowiadaja-ofensywe-anty-lgbt.read |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Polityka |date=16 August 2020 |language=pl}}</ref>

=== Criticism ===
According to ''[[Krakow Post]]'', 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]] and [[Straight ally|their allies]] improved [[LGBT rights]], they have differing political views.<ref name="Hoffman 2020" /> 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."<ref name="Tilles 2020">{{cite news |last1=Tilles |first1=Daniel |title=Poland's anti-LGBT campaign explained: 10 questions and answers |url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/06/17/polands-anti-lgbt-campaign-explained-ten-questions-and-answers/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Notes From Poland |date=17 June 2020}}</ref> Center-right presidential candidate [[Szymon Hołownia]], who is a practicing Catholic, stated, "there is no such thing as LGBT ideology, there are [LGBT] people". He said that anti-LGBT rhetoric from politicians could lead vulnerable people to suicide.<ref name="Tilles 2020" /> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title='Nie jestem ideologią, jestem człowiekiem'. Pikieta środowisk LGBT. |trans-title='I am not an ideology, I am a human being'. A picket of the LGBT community. |url=https://gazetagazeta.com/2020/06/nie-jestem-ideologia-jestem-czlowiekiem-pikieta-srodowisk-lgbt/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Gazeta Dziennik Polonii w Kanadzie |language=pl |date=18 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Wrocławski protest LGBT: 'Jestem człowiekiem, nie ideologią!' [ZDJĘCIA] |trans-title=Wrocław LGBT protest: 'I am a human being, not an ideology!' [PHOTOS] |url=https://www.tuwroclaw.com/fotogaleria,wroclawski-protest-lgbt-jestem-czlowiekiem-nie-ideologia-zdjecia,fot5-7-7653.html |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Tuwroclaw.com |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='LGBT to ludzie. Nie ideologia'. W sobotę manifestacja w Pile |trans-title='LGBT are people. Not an ideology'. Demonstration in Piła on Saturday |url=https://www.asta24.pl/2020/06/19/lgbt-to-ludzie-nie-ideologia-w-sobote-manifestacja-w-pile |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Asta24.pl |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grabiec |first1=Marta |title=Nie jestem 'ideologią', jestem człowiekiem. Protest LGBT+ pod lubelskim ratuszem. Zobacz zdjęcia |trans-title=I am not 'ideology', I am human. LGBT+ protest in front of the Lublin City Hall. See photos |url=https://kurierlubelski.pl/nie-jestem-ideologia-jestem-czlowiekiem-protest-lgbt-pod-lubelskim-ratuszem-zobacz-zdjecia/ar/c11-15031796 |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Kurier Lubelski |date=17 June 2020 |language=pl-PL}}</ref> Activists also created a film, "Ludzie, nie ideologia" (People, not ideology) showcasing the families of LGBT people.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Seiler |first1=Katarzyna |title='Kocham go, bo jest dobrym człowiekiem'. Bliscy osób LGBT+ bohaterami nowego filmu 'Ludzie, nie ideologia' |url=https://www.wysokieobcasy.pl/wysokie-obcasy/7,163229,26082028,kocham-go-bo-jest-dobrym-czlowiekiem-bliscy-osob-lgbt-bohaterami.html?disableRedirects=true |trans-title='I love him because he is a good person.' LGBT + people's relatives as the heroes of the new film 'People, not ideology' |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=[[Gazeta Wyborcza]] |language=pl |date=29 June 2020}}</ref>

An article in [[OKO.press]] compared the anti-LGBT campaign to the [[1968 Polish political crisis|1968 "anti-Zionist" campaign]]: the anti-Zionist campaign ostensibly targeted [[Zionism]] as an ideology, but actually targeted Jews as people. Many Jews were forced out of the country in 1968, and many LGBT people have been pressured to emigrate from Poland in 2020.<ref name="Krawczyk 2020">{{cite news |last1=Krawczyk |first1=Stanisław |title='Ideologia LGBT' jak 'syjoniści' w 68. Tak PiS odczłowiecza mniejszość |trans-title='LGBT ideology' like 'Zionists' in '68. This is how PiS dehumanises the minority |url=https://oko.press/ideologia-lgbt-jak-syjonisci-w-68-roku-tak-pis-odczlowiecza-mniejszosc/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=OKO.press |language=pl |date=16 June 2020}}</ref> According to Polish historian [[Adam Leszczyński]], "LGBT ideology" is

{{blockquote|a bag into which the right wing throws societal changes that do not suit it (eg. calls for equal rights for same-sex couples, which have been implemented in many countries, from the [[same-sex marriage in the United States|United States]] to [[same-sex marriage in South Africa|South Africa]]). In the language of right-wing propaganda... 'LGBT ideology' serves to dehumanize minorities and create an enemy – and thus build political support for the right, which presents itself as the only defender of the traditional family, religion and social order. 'Ideology' also fits the right-wing perception of the world in terms of a conspiracy – ideology is 'promoted', someone disseminates it, someone is 'behind it' (eg. [[George Soros]], a Jewish-American financier who supports, among others, LGBT organizations).<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Leszczyński |title=Intelektualiści prawicy o LGBT: nihilizm, bolszewia, hitleryzm. O co chodzi? Tłumaczymy ten obłęd |trans-title=Right-wing intellectuals about LGBT: nihilism, Bolshevik, Nazism. What is it about? We translate this madness |url=https://oko.press/intelektualisci-prawicy-o-lgbt-nihilizm-bolszewia-hitleryzm-o-co-chodzi-tlumaczymy-ten-obled/ |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=OKO.press |date=5 August 2020 |language=pl |quote='Ideologia LGBT' to pojęcie–worek, do którego prawica wrzuca te zmiany cywilizacyjne, które jej nie odpowiadają (np. postulaty równouprawnienia związków jednopłciowych, w wielu krajach — od USA po RPA — zrealizowane). W języku propagandy prawicowej, jak pisał w OKO.press Stanisław Krawczyk, 'ideologia LGBT' służy odczłowieczaniu mniejszości oraz kreowaniu wroga — a więc budowaniu politycznego poparcia dla prawicy, która przedstawia się jako jedyna obrończyni tradycyjnej rodziny, religii i ładu społecznego. 'Ideologia' pasuje także do częstego na prawicy postrzegania świata w kategoriach spisku — ideologię ktoś 'promuje', ktoś upowszechnia, ktoś 'za nią stoi' (np. George Soros, żydowsko–amerykański finansista, wspierający m.in. organizacje LGBT).}}</ref>}}

== Dehumanization ==
[[File:Madrid - Los de siempre.jpg|thumb|"Stay in the closet; gay=scum": graffiti in [[Madrid]], Spain, followed by a [[neo-Nazi]] [[Nazi symbolism#Gallery|Celtic cross symbol]]]]

[[Dehumanization]] 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bender |first1=Steven W. |chapter=Sexuality and Dehumanization: Homophobia in U.S. Law and Life |date=2015 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9781479899623.003.0007 |title=Mea Culpa: Lessons on Law and Regret from U.S. History |pages=93–100 |publisher=New York University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Guerrero-Coral |first1=Mario Andres |title=The Discursive Construction of Hate: A Comparative Analysis of the Marginalization and Dehumanization of Homosexuals in Nazi Germany and in Pre-Stonewall United States |date=2019 |institution=York University |location=Toronto |degree=PhD |url=https://yorkspace.library.yorku.ca/xmlui/handle/10315/37472 |format=PDF |hdl=10315/37472}}</ref>

In 2025, the social media conglomerate [[Meta Platforms|Meta]] updated its [[hate speech]] policies to allow "allegations of mental illness or abnormality" based on sexual orientation or gender identity,<ref name="Lavietes 2025">{{cite news |last1=Lavietes |first1=Matt |title=Meta's new hate speech guidelines permit users to say LGBTQ people are mentally ill |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-new-hate-speech-rules-allow-users-call-lgbtq-people-mentally-ill-rcna186700 |access-date=9 January 2025 |work=NBC News |date=7 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="NIE 2025">{{cite news |author1=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |title=Calling women 'household objects', saying LGBT individuals have 'mental illness' no longer prohibited on Meta |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Jan/08/calling-women-household-objects-saying-lgbt-individuals-have-mental-illness-no-longer-prohibited-on-meta |access-date=9 January 2025 |work=The New Indian Express |date=8 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref> which the LGBTQ magazine ''[[The Advocate (magazine)|The Advocate]]'' said would allow "hateful and dehumanizing rhetoric" on Meta's platforms such as [[Facebook]] and [[Instagram]].<ref name="Wiggins 2025">{{cite news |last1=Wiggins |first1=Christopher |title=What LGBTQ+ people should know about Meta's new rules |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/meta-policies-lgbtq-attacks |access-date=9 January 2025 |work=The Advocate |date=7 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

== Slurs ==
{{Further|LGBT slang#Slurs}}

According to one study, "homophobic epithets foster dehumanization and avoidance of gay people, in ways that other insults or labels do not."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fasoli |first1=Fabio |last2=Paladino |first2=Maria Paola |last3=Carnaghi |first3=Andrea |last4=Jetten |first4=Jolanda |last5=Bastian |first5=Brock |last6=Bain |first6=Paul G. |title=Not 'just words': Exposure to homophobic epithets leads to dehumanizing and physical distancing from gay men: Homophobic epithets and dehumanization |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |date=2016 |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=237–248 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.2148 |hdl=10071/12705 |url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/90602/11/EJSP_dehumanization_uncorrected.pdf |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Another study found that [[homophobia]] "results in substantial health and welfare effects".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Plummer |first1=David |title=Homophobia and health: Unjust, anti-social, harmful and endemic |journal=Health Care Analysis |date=1995 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=150–156 |doi=10.1007/BF02198224 |pmid=10143359 |s2cid=34638623}}</ref>

== Calls for violence ==
[[File:Smrt pederima plato.jpg|thumb|"Death to [[Faggot (slang)|faggots]]!": [[Serbian language|Serbian]] graffiti in [[Belgrade]] ]]

Anti-LGBT rhetoric also includes calls for [[violence against LGBT people]] and suggestions that they should be killed or die,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duyvendak |first1=Jan Willem |last2=Geschiere |first2=Peter |last3=Tonkens |first3=Evelien |title=The Culturalization of Citizenship: Belonging and Polarization in a Globalizing World |date=30 June 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-53410-1 |page=123 |url=}}</ref> such as in Cyprus,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baider |first1=Fabienne |title="Go to hell fucking faggots, may you die!" framing the LGBT subject in online comments |journal=Lodz Papers in Pragmatics |date=2018 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=69–92 |doi=10.1515/lpp-2018-0004 |s2cid=158928585}}</ref> Iran,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Alistair |title=Iran defends execution of gay people |date=12 June 2019 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/iran-defends-execution-of-gay-people/a-49144899 |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=Deutsche Welle }}</ref> Russia,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fitzsimons |first1=Tim |title=Russian LGBTQ activist is killed after being listed on gay-hunting website |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/russian-lgbtq-activist-killed-after-being-listed-saw-inspired-site-n1032841 |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=NBC News |date=23 July 2019}}</ref> the United States,<ref>{{cite news |title=Alabama mayor suggested 'killing out' gay people |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48521788 |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=BBC News |date=4 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=US church pastor and detective says LGBT people should be killed |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/church-pastor-lgbt-people-killed-death-grayson-fritts-baptist-a8958846.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/church-pastor-lgbt-people-killed-death-grayson-fritts-baptist-a8958846.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=The Independent |date=14 June 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Malawi,<ref>{{cite news |title=Homosexuals should be killed - Malawi politician |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/homosexuals-should-be-killed-malawi-politician-20160104-2 |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=News24}}</ref> and Uganda.<ref name="Uganda Newspaper Published Names" />

In Serbia, members of [[Obraz (organization)|Obraz]] chanted "Death to faggots" ({{langx|sr|Смрт педерима}}) and posted posters stating "we are waiting for you" ({{langx|sr|чекамо вас}}) next to an image of a baseball bat. In 2012, the organization was banned by the [[Constitutional Court of Serbia]] due to extremism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Петровић |first1=Александра |title=Образ" пред Уставним судом |url=http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/201317/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B7-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4-%D0%A3%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC-%D1%81%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC |access-date=30 August 2020 |work=Politika Online |date=14 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2012&mm=06&dd=12&nav_category=12&nav_id=617788 |title=Ustavni sud Srbije zabranio "Obraz" |website=B92.net |access-date=22 November 2017}}</ref>

== Anti-gay themes ==
Anti-gay activists claim that homosexuality goes against traditional [[family values]], that homosexuality is a [[Trojan Horse]], or that it destroys families and humankind<ref name="Mills 2013">{{cite web |last=Mills |first=Laura |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/ahead-of-olympics-russia-raises-anti-lgbt-rhetoric-1.1562570 |title=Russia raises anti-LGBT rhetoric at home while softening message to West |website=CTV News |date=27 November 2013 |access-date=12 March 2014}}</ref> through homosexual {{pslink|recruitment}} which will lead to the extinction of humanity.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2012/05/25/president-mugabe-homosexuality-will-lead-to-extinction/ |title=President Mugabe: homosexuality will 'lead to extinction' |first=Mel |last=Spencer |date=25 May 2012 |website=PinkNews}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Causing disasters"></span> Homosexuality as a cause of disasters ===
The argument that homosexuals cause [[natural disasters]] has been around for more than a thousand years, even before [[Justinian]] blamed earthquakes on "unchecked homosexual behavior" in the sixth century.<ref name="Dynes 2016">{{cite book |last1=Dynes |first1=Wayne R. |title=Encyclopedia of Homosexuality: Volume II |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-36812-0 |page=870 |chapter-url= |chapter=Myths & Fabrications |date=2016}}</ref> This trope was common in [[early modern]] Christian literature;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberg |first1=David F. |title=The Construction of Homosexuality |date=15 August 1990 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30628-5 |page=168 |url=}}</ref> homosexuals were blamed for earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues, invasions of [[Saracens]], and field mice. This discourse was revived by [[Anita Bryant]] in 1976 when she blamed homosexuals for droughts in California.<ref name="Dynes 2016" /> In the U.S., right-wing religious groups including the [[Westboro Baptist Church]] continue to claim that homosexuals are responsible for disasters.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dominey-Howes |first1=Dale |last2=Gorman-Murray |first2=Andrew |last3=McKinnon |first3=Scott |title=Queering disasters: on the need to account for LGBTI experiences in natural disaster contexts |journal=Gender, Place & Culture |date=2014 |volume=21 |issue=7 |pages=905–918 |doi=10.1080/0966369X.2013.802673 |s2cid=146478126 }}</ref> Homosexuals have been blamed for hurricanes, including [[Hurricane Isaac|Isaac]], [[Hurricane Katrina|Katrina]], and [[Hurricane Sandy|Sandy]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dowling |first1=Tim |title=Superstorm Sandy and many more disasters that have been blamed on the gay community |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/oct/30/hurricane-sandy-disasters-blamed-gay-community |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=30 October 2012}}</ref> In 2020, various religious figures including Israeli rabbi [[Meir Mazuz]] have argued that the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] is divine retribution for same-sex activity or [[pride parades]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Religious figures blame LGBT+ people for coronavirus |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-lgbt/religious-figures-blame-lgbt-people-for-coronavirus-idUSKBN20W2HL |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=Reuters |date=9 March 2020}}</ref>

Following the [[September 2001 attacks]], televangelist [[Jerry Falwell]] blamed "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an [[#Gay lifestyle|alternative lifestyle]], the [[ACLU]], People for the American Way" for provoking the aggression of [[Islamic fundamentalist]]s and causing God to withdraw his protection for America.<ref name="Goodstein 2001">{{cite news |last1=Goodstein |first1=Laurie |title=After the Attacks: Finding Fault; Falwell's Finger-Pointing Inappropriate, Bush Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/15/us/after-attacks-finding-fault-falwell-s-finger-pointing-inappropriate-bush-says.html |work=The New York Times |date=15 September 2001 |page=A15 |oclc=1058508513 |url-access=limited}}</ref> On the broadcast of the Christian television program ''[[The 700 Club]]'', Falwell said, "You helped this happen". He later apologized and said, "I would never blame any human being except the terrorists".<ref name="Falwell Apologizes">{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412224306/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/09/14/Falwell.apology/ |archive-date=12 April 2021 |title=Falwell apologizes to gays, feminists, lesbians |publisher=CNN |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Falwell and Robertson Blame Liberal America |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/falwell-and-above/ |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=Snopes.com}}</ref>

In 2012, Chilean politician [[Ignacio Urrutia]] claimed that allowing homosexuals to serve in the [[Chilean military]] would cause Perú and Bolivia to invade and destroy his country.<ref>{{cite news |title='Si aceptan homosexuales en el Ejército, Perú y Bolivia nos volarán la raja' {{!}} Noticias {{!}} elmundo.es |url=https://www.elmundo.es/america/2012/10/10/noticias/1349900629.html |access-date=5 September 2020 |work=www.elmundo.es |date=2012}}</ref>

=== AIDS as punishment ===
{{Further|AIDS#Stigma|Gay-related immune deficiency}}

An outgrowth of the discourse on homosexuality {{pslink|causing disasters}} argues that [[HIV/AIDS]] is divine punishment for homosexuality.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bright |first1=G. |title=Plague-Making and the AIDS Epidemic: A Story of Discrimination |date=14 February 2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-01122-0 |url=}}</ref><ref name="Dynes 2016" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=T F |title=Is AIDS a just punishment? |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |date=1988 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=154–160 |doi=10.1136/jme.14.3.154 |pmid=3184138 |pmc=1375741 |doi-access=free}}</ref> During the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, mainstream newspapers labeled it a "gay plague".<ref>{{cite news |title='Gay plague': The vile, horrific and inhumane way the media reported the AIDS crisis |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/11/30/world-aids-day-1980s-headlines-tabloids/ |access-date=21 August 2020 |work=PinkNews |date=30 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dowsett |first1=Gary |editor1-last=Herdt |editor1-first=Gilbert |title=Moral Panics, Sex Panics: Fear and the Fight over Sexual Rights |date=2009 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-3732-3 |pages=130– |chapter=The "gay plague" revisited: AIDS and its enduring moral panic}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Howard |first1=Ken |author2=[[Gavin Yamey]] |title=Magazine's HIV claim rekindles "gay plague" row |journal=BMJ: British Medical Journal |date=2003 |volume=326 |issue=7386 |pages=454 |doi=10.1136/bmj.326.7386.454 |pmc=1125344 |issn=0959-8138}}</ref> For a few years, the misleading technical name for the disease was [[gay-related immune deficiency]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The terrifying experiences of a gay man who lived through the AIDs crisis |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/aids-crisis-1980-eighties-remember-gay-man-hiv-positive-funerals-partners-disease-michael-penn-a7511671.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/aids-crisis-1980-eighties-remember-gay-man-hiv-positive-funerals-partners-disease-michael-penn-a7511671.html |archive-date=7 May 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=21 August 2020 |work=The Independent |date=6 January 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead" (a pun on the commercial slogan for [[Raid (insecticide)|Raid insecticide]] "Raid Kills Bugs 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 [[chant]], or simply something written as [[graffiti]]. It is reported that the slogan first appeared in public in the early 1990s, when [[Sebastian Bach]], the former lead singer of the [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Skid Row (American band)|Skid Row]], wore it on a [[t-shirt]] thrown to him by an audience member.<ref>Michael Musto. "La Dolce Musto", village voice, 2000. {{cite web |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0022,musto,15284,15.html |title=La Dolce Musto |access-date=26 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070322195624/http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0022%2Cmusto%2C15284%2C15.html |archive-date=22 March 2007}}</ref> The slogan "AIDS cures fags" is used by the Westboro Baptist Church.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-Gay Protesters Descend on LISD |url=https://www.kcbd.com/story/1597495/anti-gay-protesters-descend-on-lisd/ |access-date=21 August 2020 |work=kcbd.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Claussen |first1=Dane S. |title=Sex, Religion, Media |year=2002 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-1558-1 |page=193 |url=}}</ref>

During an anti-gay neo-Nazi rally in the German city of [[Görlitz]] in 2024, participants chanted "{{lang|de|HIV, hilf uns doch, Schwule gibt es immer noch}}" ("HIV, help us, there are still gays").<ref>{{cite  news |author=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |title=Polizei in Sachsen ermittelt nach Nazidemo wegen Hassparole |trans-title=Police in Saxony investigate hate speech after Nazi demonstration |date=October 3, 2024 |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/homophober-aufmarsch-in-goerlitz-polizei-ermittelt-gegen-sieben-rechtsextremisten-a-a833dc98-d143-4917-a024-0232dd9b3614 |access-date=9 May 2025 |work=Der Spiegel}}</ref>

=== Homosexuality as unnatural ===
[[File:Park Kosynierow in Poznan (chlopak dziewczyna normalna rodzina).jpg|thumb|Graffiti in [[Poznań]], Poland: "Boy–girl is the normal family". This has, in turn, been graffitied to add the word "not" in [[Polish_language|Polish]], and [[LGBT_symbols#Gender_symbols|two female symbols]].]]

Describing homosexuality as unnatural dates back to [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and [[Thomas Aquinas]]. 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]]. 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 sex|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 problem|is–ought conflation]]. Some proponents of the "unnaturalness" thesis argue that homosexual behavior is the result of "{{pslink|recruitment}}" or willful sinfulness.<ref name="Hopkins p1">{{cite book |last1=Hopkins |first1=Patrick D. |title=Queer Philosophy |publisher=Brill {{!}} Rodopi |isbn=978-94-012-0835-2 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1163/9789401208352_002 |chapter=Naturalizing homosexuality: biology, sexual orientation, and the nature/culture distinction |year=2012}}</ref>

=== Homosexuality as a disease ===
[[Nazi propaganda]] described homosexuality as a contagious disease<ref>{{cite book |last1=Giles |first1=Geoffrey J. |title=The Routledge History of the Holocaust |date=2010 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-203-83744-3 |chapter=The Persecution of Gay Men and Lesbians During the Third Reich |pages=385–396}}</ref> but not in the medical sense. Rather, homosexuality was a disease of the {{lang|de|[[Volkskörper]]}} (national body), a metaphor for the desired national or racial community ({{lang|de|[[Volksgemeinschaft]]}}). According to Nazi ideology, individuals' lives were to be subordinated to the {{lang|de|Volkskörper}} like cells in the human body. Homosexuality was seen as a virus or cancer in the {{lang|de|Volkskörper}} because it was seen as a threat to the German nation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whisnant |first1=Clayton J. |authorlink=Clayton J. Whisnant |title=Queer Identities and Politics in Germany: A History, 1880–1945 |date=2016 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-1-939594-10-5 |page=227}}</ref> The SS newspaper  ''[[Das Schwarze Korps]]''  argued that 40,000 homosexuals were capable of "poisoning" two million men if left to roam free.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zinn |first1=Alexander |title=»Das sind Staatsfeinde« Die NS-Homosexuellenverfolgung 1933–1945 |trans-title="They are enemies of the state": The Nazi persecution of homosexuals 1933–1945 |journal=Bulletin des Fritz Bauer Instituts |page=12 |date=2020 |url=https://www.fritz-bauer-institut.de/fileadmin/editorial/publikationen/einsicht/Einsicht-2020_Einzelseiten.pdf |issn=1868-4211}}</ref>

Some of those who called homosexuality {{pslink|unnatural}}, such as [[Traditional Values Coalition]] head and [[Christian right]] activist [[Louis Sheldon]], said that if it were proven to be a biologically based phenomenon, it would still be diseased.<ref name="Hopkins p1" /> The psychiatric establishment in the west once [[Homosexuality and psychology|medicalized same-sex desire]]. In the United States, homosexuality was removed in 1973 as a [[mental disorder]] from the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] (DSM) as it did not meet the criteria for a mental disorder.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Drescher |first=Jack |date=4 December 2015 |title=Out of DSM: Depathologizing Homosexuality |journal=Behavioral Sciences |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=565–575 |doi=10.3390/bs5040565 |issn=2076-328X |pmc=4695779 |pmid=26690228 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soulforce.org/article/642 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324080417/http://www.soulforce.org/article/642 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2010 |title=Gay Is Okay With APA (American Psychiatric Association) |date=24 March 2010}}</ref><ref name="APA California">{{cite web |url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/Amer_Psychological_Assn_Amicus_Curiae_Brief.pdf |title=Case No. S147999 in the Supreme Court of the State of California, In re Marriage Cases Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4365(...) – APA California Amicus Brief — As Filed |access-date=21 December 2010}}</ref> The Catholic Church still [[Catholic views on homosexuality|officially teaches]] that "homosexual tendencies" are "objectively disordered".<ref>{{cite news |title=Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Roman Catholic Church |url=https://www.hrc.org/resources/stances-of-faiths-on-lgbt-issues-roman-catholic-church |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=HRC}}</ref> In 2016, anti-LGBT rhetoric was increasing in Indonesia under the Twitter hashtag #TolakLGBT (#RejectLGBT), stating that LGBT is a disease.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mollman |first1=Steve |title="LGBT is a disease, not a human right"—a growing movement in Indonesia rejects gay rights |url=https://qz.com/617445/lgbt-is-a-disease-not-a-human-right-a-growing-movement-in-indonesia-rejects-gay-rights/ |access-date=25 August 2020 |work=Quartz |date=16 February 2016}}</ref> In 2019, Archbishop [[Marek Jędraszewski]] said that a "rainbow plague" was threatening Poland.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liberals fear unrest as Poland Catholic Church doubles down on anti-gay rhetoric |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-lgbt-bishop/liberals-fear-unrest-as-poland-catholic-church-doubles-down-on-anti-gay-rhetoric-idUSKCN1US1EN |access-date=20 August 2020 |work=Reuters |date=2 August 2019}}</ref> In 2020, the education minister defended an official who warned that "LGBT virus" was threatening Polish schools, and was more dangerous than [[COVID-19]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tilles |first1=Daniel |title=Education minister defends official who warned "LGBT virus" threatens Polish schools |url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/08/25/education-minister-defends-official-who-warned-lgbt-virus-threatens-polish-schools/ |access-date=25 August 2020 |work=Notes From Poland |date=25 August 2020}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Gay lifestyle"></span><span class="anchor" id="Homosexual lifestyle"></span><span class="anchor" id="Homosexuality as a lifestyle"></span> Homosexuality as a choice or lifestyle ===
{{redirect|Gay lifestyle|the culture of gay people|LGBT culture}}

Along with the idea of "[[#Recruitment|homosexual recruitment]]", the idea of a "'''gay lifestyle'''" or "'''homosexual lifestyle'''" is used by social and religious conservatives in the United States to argue that non-heterosexual [[sexual orientation]]s are consciously chosen.<ref name="Mutz 2006">{{cite journal |last1=Mutz |first1=Larry |title=A Fairy Tale: The Myth of the Homosexual Lifestyle in Anti-Gay-and-Lesbian Rhetoric |journal=Women's Rights Law Reporter |date=Spring 2006 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=69– |issn=0085-8269}}</ref><ref name="LeVay p22">{{Cite book |last=LeVay |first=Simon |url=https://archive.org/details/gaystraightreaso0000leva_e5c2/page/22/mode/1up?view=theater |title=Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-029737-4 |edition=2nd |page=22 |author-link=Simon LeVay |url-access=registration}}</ref> 
However, scientists favor [[Biology and sexual orientation|biological explanations for sexual orientation]], arguing that people typically feel no sense of control over their sexual orientation or attractions.<ref name="Bailey 2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=J. Michael |last2=Vasey |first2=Paul L. |last3=Diamond |first3=Lisa M. |last4=Breedlove |first4=S. Marc |last5=Vilain |first5=Eric |last6=Epprecht |first6=Marc |date=2016 |title=Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science |journal=Psychological Science in the Public Interest |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=45–101 |doi=10.1177/1529100616637616 |pmid=27113562 |s2cid=42281410 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
The term "gay lifestyle" may also be used disparagingly for a series of stereotyped behaviours.<ref name="Crooks 2010">{{Cite book |last1=Crooks |first1=Robert L. |last2=Baur |first2=Karla |title=Our Sexuality |date=2010 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-81294-4}}{{Page needed|date=June 2021}}</ref>

Christian right activists may worry that increasing [[LGBT rights]] will make the "gay lifestyle" more attractive to young people.<ref name="Barton p194">{{cite book |last1=Barton |first1=Bernadette |title=Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays |date=2012 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-2442-2 |page=194}}</ref>
US media in the 1970s frequently used the term "[[alternative lifestyle]]" as a euphemism for homosexuality, and the term was employed in an anti-gay context by opponents of the [[Equal Rights Amendment]], as well as supporters of California's [[Briggs Initiative|Proposition 6]], which would have barred openly gay teachers in public schools.<ref name="Ryan p43">{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=Maureen E. |title=Lifestyle Media in American Culture: Gender, Class, and the Politics of Ordinariness |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-315-46495-4 |location=New York |pages=43–44}}</ref>
In 1977, while campaigning against a local ordinance protecting gay teachers against [[employment discrimination]], anti-gay activist [[Anita Bryant]] stated, "A homosexual is not born, they are made".<ref name="Spitko p89">{{cite book |last1=Spitko |first1=E. Gary |title=Antigay Bias in Role-Model Occupations |year=2017 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-4870-8 |page=89}}</ref>
US president [[Ronald Reagan]] described the [[gay rights movement]] 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".{{r|Ryan p43}}

=== <span class="anchor" id="Adam and Steve"></span><span class="anchor" id="Homosexuality as ungodly"></span> Homosexuality as sinful or ungodly ===
{{Redirect|Adam and Steve|the 2005 film|Adam & Steve}}
{{Further|Religion and homosexuality}}
[[File:Westboro Baptist Church at University of Kansas graduation.jpg|thumb|alt=Two women standing on a university campus sidewalk, holding placards reading "Gay Hawks", "God Hates Fag Enablers", "God Hates Fags", and "Fags Doom Nations"|Members of the [[Westboro Baptist Church]] picketing at the [[University of Kansas]] ]]
Many conservative Christians consider homosexual acts to be inherently sinful based on common interpretations of 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.")<ref name="Gnuse 2015" /> The story of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]], two biblical cities which were burned down due to the sins of its inhabitants, is mostly portrayed as divine retribution for homosexual behavior.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pitt |first1=Richard N. |title="Killing the Messenger": Religious Black Gay Men's Neutralization of Anti-Gay Religious Messages |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |date=2010 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=56–72 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01492.x}}</ref><ref name="Gnuse 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Gnuse |first1=Robert K. |title=Seven Gay Texts: Biblical Passages Used to Condemn Homosexuality |journal=Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture |date=2015 |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=68–87 |issn=1945-7596 |doi=10.1177/0146107915577097 |s2cid=170127256}}</ref>

Various inflammatory and controversial slogans have been used by opponent congregations and individuals, particularly by [[Fred Phelps]], founder of the [[Westboro Baptist Church]]. These slogans have included "God Hates Fags", "Fear God Not Fags", and "[[Matthew Shepard]] Burns In Hell".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://portlandmercury.com/2000-09-14/city.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050414025838/http://portlandmercury.com/2000-09-14/city.html |archive-date=14 April 2005 |last=Dunn |first=Katia |title=What If God Were Gay? |work=Portland Mercury |date=14 September 2000 |volume=1 |issue=16 |oclc=427389475}}</ref>

[[File:God hates lechery.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Two identical posters side-by-side on an outdoor wall reading "God hates lechery" in Hebrew|Posters in [[Tel Aviv]] prior to the city's Pride Parade: "God hates lechery"]]

Homosexuality is also frequently considered sinful in [[Islam]]. In some Middle Eastern countries, acts of homosexuality are punishable by death. Anti-LGBT rhetoric and political homophobia are growing in some Muslim countries.<ref>{{multiref2|{{cite journal |last1=Boellstorff |first1=Tom |title=The emergence of political homophobia in Indonesia: masculinity and national belonging |journal=Ethnos |date=2004 |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=465–486 |issn=1469-588X |doi=10.1080/0014184042000302308 |s2cid=143971007 |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/3k89m64b}}|{{cite journal |last1=Hamdi |first1=Nassim |last2=Lachheb |first2=Monia |last3=Anderson |first3=Eric |title=Masculinity, homosexuality and sport in an Islamic state of increasing homohysteria |journal=Journal of Gender Studies |date=2017 |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=688–701 |issn=1465-3869 |doi=10.1080/09589236.2016.1155979 |s2cid=147347384}}|{{cite book |last1=Weiss |first1=Meredith L. |last2=Bosia |first2=Michael J. |editor1-last=Korycki |editor1-first=Katarzyna |editor2-last=Nasirzadeh |editor2-first=Abouzar |title=Global Homophobia: States, Movements, and the Politics of Oppression |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-09500-9 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303759230 |chapter=Homophobia as a Tool of Statecraft: Iran and Its Queers |date=2013}}|{{cite journal |last1=Thoreson |first1=Ryan Richard |title=Troubling the waters of a 'wave of homophobia': Political economies of anti-queer animus in sub-Saharan Africa |journal=Sexualities |date=2014 |volume=17 |issue=1–2 |pages=23–42 |issn=1461-7382 |doi=10.1177/1363460713511098 |s2cid=144030716}}|{{cite book |last1=Wieringa |first1=Saskia E. |editor1-last=Fealy |editor1-first=Greg |editor2-last=Ricci |editor2-first=Ronit |title=Contentious Belonging: Contentious Belonging |publisher=ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute |isbn=978-981-4843-49-2 |chapter=Is the Recent Wave of Homophobia in Indonesia Unexpected? |date=2019}} }}</ref>

Other religious leaders including Christians, Muslims, and Jews have denounced anti-LGBT rhetoric.<ref>{{multiref2|{{cite news |title=Poland's Jewish leaders deplore stigmatization of LGBTQ people |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/poland-s-jewish-leaders-deplore-stigmatization-lgbt-people-n1231282 |access-date=24 August 2020 |work=NBC News}}|{{cite web |title=The Faith Leaders Leading the Fight for LGBTQ Equality |url=https://www.hrc.org/news/the-faith-leaders-leading-the-fight-for-lgbtq-equality |publisher=Human Rights Campaign |date=26 October 2017 |access-date=24 August 2020}}|{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Ian |last2=Thorpe |first2=Kirsty |last3=Wootton |first3=Janet |title=Women and Ordination in the Christian Churches: International Perspectives |date=2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-567-23910-5 |url=}}|{{cite book |last1=Santos |first1=A. |title=Social Movements and Sexual Citizenship in Southern Europe |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-29640-5 |page=201 |url=}}}}</ref>

[[File:Man in Jesus Costume Counter-protesting Christian Anti-gay Protest.jpg|thumb|alt=A man with long hair and a beard, dressed as Jesus, holds up a sign reading "I'm Cool With It" atop a rainbow background. He is standing in front of a group of protesters holding anti-LGBT signs on the back of a semi truck, underneath a banner reading, "Homosexuality is Sin! Return to Jesus!". A line of police stand in between, guarding the protesters.|Counter-protester at an anti-LGBTQ demonstration in [[Seoul]], 2017]]

The slogan "God made [[Adam and Eve]], not '''Adam and Steve'''" alludes to a Bible-based argument that homosexuality is sinful and unnatural.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Ralph R. |last2=Windes |first2=Russel R. |title=Progay/Antigay: The Rhetorical War Over Sexuality |series=Rhetoric & Society |date=2000 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4522-6372-4 |page=63 |url=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Victoria |title=What about the children? arguments against lesbian and gay parenting |journal=Women's Studies International Forum |issn=0148-0685 |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=555–570 |doi=10.1016/S0277-5395(01)00193-5 |date=September–October 2001}}</ref>
A 1970 editorial in ''[[Christianity Today]]'' quoted a [[Graffiti|graffito]] in San Francisco that read, "If God had wanted homosexuals, he would have created Adam and Freddy."<ref name="Toulouse p22">{{cite book |last=Toulouse |first=Mark G. |editor-last=Balch |editor-first=David L. |title=Homosexuality, Science, and the "Plain Sense" of Scripture |date=2000 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |isbn=978-0-8028-4698-3 |page=22 |chapter=Muddling Through: The Church and Sexuality/Homosexuality}}</ref> In 1977, anti-gay activist [[Anita Bryant]] made a similar comment using the phrase "Adam and Bruce".{{r|Toulouse p22}}<ref name="Carroll p291">{{cite book |last=Carroll |first=Peter N. |title=It Seemed Like Nothing Happened: America in the 1970s |date=2000 |orig-year=first published 1982 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, N.J. |isbn=978-0-8135-1538-0 |page=291 |oclc=183352949}}</ref> The version with "Adam and Steve" first appeared on a protest sign at a 1977 anti-gay rally in Houston, Texas, featuring [[Christian right]] figures such as [[Phyllis Schlafly]] and National Right to Life Committee founder [[Mildred Jefferson]].<ref name="Schonfeld 2015"/><ref name="Klemesrud 1977">{{cite news |last=Klemesrud |first=Judy |author-link=Judy Lee Klemesrud |title=Equal Rights Plan and Abortion Are Opposed by 15,000 at Rally |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/20/archives/equal-rights-plan-and-abortion-are-opposed-by-15000-at-rally-like-a.html |work=The New York Times |date=20 November 1977 |page=32 |access-date=23 November 2024 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The slogan was also used in "The Gay Bar," a 1977 episode of the sitcom ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]''.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} In 1979, [[Jerry Falwell]] used the "Adam and Steve" slogan in a press conference cited in ''Christianity Today''.{{r|Toulouse p22|Schonfeld 2015}} During the initial outbreak of [[HIV/AIDS in the United States]] in 1985, conservative congressman [[William E. Dannemeyer]] used the slogan to argue that gay men were a threat to public health.<ref name="Clendinen p519">{{cite book |last1=Clendinen |first1=Dudley |last2=Nagourney |first2=Adam |title=Out For Good: The Struggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement in America |date=2001 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-86743-4 |page=519}}</ref>

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 (as in [[Paul Rudnick]]'s play ''[[The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told]]''<ref name="Schonfeld 2015"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Hurwitt |first=Robert |title=Adam and Steve's adventures in paradise |work=San Francisco Chronicle |page=E4 |date=21 May 2001 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Adam-and-Steve-s-adventures-in-paradise-2919586.php}}</ref> and the 2005 film ''[[Adam & Steve]]'').<ref name="Schonfeld 2015"/> The phrase was used by Democratic Unionist MP [[David Simpson (Northern Ireland politician)|David Simpson]] during a debate on the [[Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013]] in the British House of Commons, although his slip of the tongue saying "in the Garden of Eden, it was Adam and Steve" initially caused laughter in the chamber.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hennessy |first=Mark |title=British MPs back gay marriage legislation |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2013/0206/1224329707241.html |date=6 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="Schonfeld 2015">{{cite news |last=Schonfeld |first=Zach |title=The Surprising History of the Phrase 'Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve' |url=https://www.newsweek.com/surprising-history-phrase-adam-and-eve-not-adam-and-steve-348164 |access-date=21 August 2020 |work=Newsweek |date=1 July 2015}}</ref> Zimbabwean presidential candidate [[Nelson Chamisa]] said in a 2019 interview that "[w]e 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".<ref>{{Cite web |title=MDC's Nelson Chamisa speaks on Cde Mugabe's legacy |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7eqbvO0s08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718031839/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7eqbvO0s08 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |access-date=6 March 2024 |via=YouTube |type=video |publisher=ZBC News |date=6 September 2019}}</ref> The phrase has been reclaimed by LGBT people and used in blogs, comics, and other media mocking the anti-gay message.<ref name="Schonfeld 2015"/>

=== 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]] of Malaysia employed anti-gay rhetoric as part of his "Asian values" program, describing homosexuality as one of several Western ills.<ref name="Shah 2017">{{cite book |last=Shah |first=Shanon |title=The Making of a Gay Muslim: Religion, Sexuality and Identity in Malaysia and Britain |url= |series=Palgrave Studies in Lived Religion and Societal Challenges. |date=17 October 2017 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |location=Cham, Switzerland |isbn=978-3-319-63130-1 |page=130 |oclc=1027079609}}</ref>
Mohamad used it for political advantage in the 1998 scandal involving the sacking and jailing of MP and former [[Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia|Deputy Prime Minister]] [[Anwar Ibrahim]] by Mohamad amidst accusations of sodomy that the ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' termed a "blatantly political fix-up".<ref>{{Cite news |first=Peter |last=Hartcher |title=Outdated political thuggery embarrasses Malaysia |url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/outdated-political-thuggery-embarrasses-malaysia-20100222-ornl.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=23 February 2010 |access-date=26 August 2020}}</ref> Anwar was subsequently subjected to two trials and sentenced to nine years imprisonment for corruption and sodomy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www7.nationalacademies.org/humanrights/Cases/CHR_068423.htm |title=Anwar Ibrahim |date=6 June 2014 |access-date=10 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213034949/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/humanrights/Cases/CHR_068423.htm |archive-date=13 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

While in New York for a meeting of the United Nations, Iranian President [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] 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."<ref>{{cite news |last=Goldman |first=Russell |title=Ahmadinejad: No Gays, No Oppression of Women in Iran |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3642673 |date=24 September 2007 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=26 August 2020}}</ref> In his native [[Farsi]], he used the slang equivalent of ''faggot'', not the neutral term for a "homosexual".<ref name="Martel 2019">{{cite book |last1=Martel |first1=Frédéric |last2=Bronski |first2=Michael |title=Global Gay: How Gay Culture is Changing the World |chapter-url= |date=9 April 2019 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-262-53705-6 |pages=203– |chapter=8. "In Iran, There Are No Homosexuals" |oclc=1001431180 |translator-last=Baudoin |translator-first=Patsy |orig-year=1st pub. [[Flammarian]], Paris 2013<!-- Global gay : comment la révolution gay change le monde--> |quote=The former President of Iran evaded an American student's question on the execution of homosexuals by saying, 'In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country. This does not exist in our country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I do not know who told you that we have.' (Note that in this speech, Ahmadinejad used the Farsi term ''hamjensbaz'', 'faggot', not the more neutral term ''hamjensgara'', 'homosexual'.{{thin space}})}}</ref>

Claims that homosexuality is a Western disease have been observed in Vietnam,<ref>{{cite web |last=Lam |first=Charles |title=UCI Anthropologist Out To Prove Gay People Exist ... In Vietnam |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/uci-anthropologist-out-to-prove-gay-people-exist-in-vietnam-6464912/ |date=28 October 2013 |website=OC Weekly |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref> China,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Bay Area Reporter |last=Huang |first=Wen |title=Gayness as a Western disease |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=BAR20010104.1.35&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 |date=4 January 2001 |volume=31 |issue=1 |publisher=Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref> India,<ref>{{cite web |last=Bedi |first=Rahul |title=Indian minister claims homosexuality is Western 'disease' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8617425/Indian-minister-claims-homosexuality-is-Western-disease.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8617425/Indian-minister-claims-homosexuality-is-Western-disease.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |date=5 July 2011 |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=31 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Ethiopia<ref>{{cite web |last=Baker |first=Katie J. M. |title=Ethiopia's War on Homosexuals |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ethiopias-war-homosexuals-224457 |website=Newsweek |date=13 December 2013 |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref> and other African nations,<ref name="Luirink 2016">{{cite book |last1=Luirink |first1=Bart |last2=Maurick |first2=Madeleine |last3=Chambers |first3=Christopher |title=Homosexuality in Africa: A Disturbing Love |url= |year=2016 |publisher=Aspekt |location=Soesterberg |isbn=978-94-6338-082-9 |oclc=1148475814}}</ref> as well as among many [[Muslims]] worldwide.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sanjakdar |first=Fida |journal=Sex Education |date=2013 |volume=13 |number=1 |pages=16–29 |doi=10.1080/14681811.2011.634154 |title=Educating for sexual difference? Muslim teachers' conversations about homosexuality |issn=1468-1811 |oclc=50451119 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |s2cid=145417308}}</ref>

=== Conflation with pedophilia ===
{{further-text|[[LGBTQ grooming conspiracy theory]].}}
[[File:Stop Pedofilii, Warsaw, 2.jpg|thumb|"{{lang|pl|Stop Pedofilii}}" van belonging to {{ill|Fundacja Pro|pl}}, who claim that pedophilia is advocated by the "[[#Gay lobby|LGBT lobby]]"]]

The [[Societal attitudes toward homosexuality#Association with child abuse and pedophilia|claim that homosexuals sexually abuse children]] predates the current era, as it was leveled against [[pederasts]] even during [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]].<ref>[[Lucian]]. ''Erotes''</ref> 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.<ref name="Leslie 2014">{{cite news |last=Leslie |first=Laura |title=Stam calls pedophilia, sadism 'sexual orientations' |date=25 June 2014 |publisher=WRAL-TV |location=Raleigh, N.C. |url=http://www.wral.com/stam-calls-pedophilia-bestiality-sexual-orientations-/13762098/}}</ref> A related claim is that [[LGBT adoption]] is done for the purpose of [[Sexual grooming|grooming]] children for sexual exploitation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wądołowska |first1=Agnieszka |title=Activist who said "gay couples adopt kids to rape them" will not face trial after Polish court rejects case |url=https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/05/29/activist-who-said-gay-couples-adopt-kids-to-rape-them-will-not-face-trial-after-polish-court-rejects-case/ |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=Notes From Poland |date=29 May 2020}}</ref> The empirical research shows that sexual orientation does not affect the likelihood that people will abuse children.<ref name="Herek">{{cite web |last1=Herek |first1=Gregory M. |author1-link=Gregory M. Herek |title=Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation |url=https://lgbpsychology.org/html/facts_molestation.html |website=Lgbpsychology.org |access-date=2 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="Lamb 2009">{{cite web |last1=Lamb |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Lamb (psychologist) |title=Affidavit of Michael Lamb, Ph.D. |url=http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/gill-v-office-of-personnel-management/2009-11-17-doma-aff-lamb.pdf |publisher=United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts |id=Civil Action No. 1:09-cv-10309 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121221049/http://www.glad.org/uploads/docs/cases/gill-v-office-of-personnel-management/2009-11-17-doma-aff-lamb.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2016 |date=2009 |via=Glad.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sexual orientation, homosexuality, and bisexuality |url=http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-orientation.aspx |access-date=30 November 2010 |publisher=American Psychological Association}}</ref>

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]], [and] [[necrophiles]]",<ref name="Santora 2019">{{cite news |last1=Santora |first1=Marc |title=Poland's Populists Pick a New Top Enemy: Gay People |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/world/europe/poland-gay-rights.html |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=7 April 2019 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What does the plus in 'LGBT+' mean? |url=https://www.statepress.com/article/2018/10/spartcult-what-is-the-plus-in-lgbt-plus |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=The Arizona State Press}}</ref> as well as the invented terms "agefluid", "clovergender" (a hoax executed by users of the [[imageboard]] [[4chan]], whose logo is a stylized [[four-leaf clover]]), and "pedosexual".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Link |first1=Devon |title=Fact check: 'Clovergender' isn't part of the LGBTQ community |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/30/fact-check-clovergender-not-lgbtq-gender-sexual-identity/5504085002/ |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=USA TODAY |date=30 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Caldera |first1=Camille |title=Fact check: LGBTQ community rejects false association with pedophiles |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/30/fact-check-lgbtq-community-rejects-false-association-pedophiles/5462805002/ |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=USA TODAY |date=30 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Evon |first1=David |title=Are Pedophiles Claiming to be 'Age Fluid'? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pedophiles-age-fluid/ |access-date=26 August 2020 |work=Snopes.com |date=27 July 2020}}</ref>

Starting in 2022, some conservatives, including Chaya Raichik of [[Libs of TikTok]], 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keveney |first=Bill |date=2 May 2022 |title=Weaponized grooming rhetoric is taking a toll on LGBTQ community and child sex abuse survivors |url=https://phys.org/news/2022-05-weaponized-grooming-rhetoric-toll-lgbtq.html |access-date=23 May 2022 |website=[[Phys.org]]}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Gay agenda"></span> "Gay agenda" ===
{{Excerpt|Gay agenda}}

=== Recruitment ===
{{further|Acquired homosexuality|Homosexual seduction}}
<!-- [[File:Save Our Children From Homosexuality Brochure.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Brochure used by [[Save Our Children]] to repeal Dade County, Florida [[Dade County ordinance 77-4|ordinance 77-4]] ]] -->

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.<ref name="Murray 2012">{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Heather |title=Not in This Family: Gays and the Meaning of Kinship in Postwar North America |url= |date=10 February 2012 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0740-8}}</ref>{{rp|91}} Proponents were found especially among the [[New Right]], as epitomized by [[Anita Bryant]]. In her [[Save Our Children]] campaign, she promoted a view of homosexuals recruiting youth.<ref name="Murray 2012" />{{rp|115–116}} A common slogan is "Homosexuals cannot reproduce — so they must recruit" or its variants.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tanasychuk |first1=John |title=How Anita Bryant fought -- and helped -- gay rights |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2007-06-04-0706030236-story.html |access-date=14 December 2019 |work=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |date=4 June 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7KcyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5563,1440716&dq=gay+lifestyle+recruit+school&hl=en |title=Utah bans gay high-school clubs |date=19 April 1996 |work=Lawrence Journal-World |page=9A |access-date=3 May 2012}}</ref> Supporters of recruitment allegations point at "deviant"<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/24/peter-labarbera-gays-hitler-_n_6932450.html |title=Like Hitler, LGBT Activists Are Recruiting Children, Peter LaBarbera Claims |last=Wong |first=Curtis M. |date=24 March 2015 |work=Huffington Post |access-date=29 October 2017}}</ref> and "prurient" [[sex education]] 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.<ref name="Posner 2007">{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1173149429D53698&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |title=The gay recruit |last=Posner |first=Sarah |date=9 February 2007 |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=2 May 2012}}</ref> Supporters of this myth cite the inability for [[same-sex couples]] to reproduce as a motivation for recruitment.<ref name="Posner 2007"/><ref name="Shelly 2012">{{cite news |url=http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/rep-steve-cookson-defends-dont-say-gay-legislation/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419172112/http://voices.kansascity.com/entries/rep-steve-cookson-defends-dont-say-gay-legislation/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 April 2013 |title=Rep. Steve Cookson defends 'don't say gay' legislation |last=Shelly |first=Barb |date=30 April 2012 |work=[[Kansas City Star]] |access-date=2 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Andreeva 2010"/><ref name="Witt 1995">{{cite book |last1=Witt |first1=Lynn |last2=Thomas |first2=Sherry |last3=Marcus |first3=Eric |title=Out in All Directions: The Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America |url= |date=1 September 1995 |publisher=Hachette Digital, Inc. |isbn=978-0-446-51822-2 |pages=353–}}</ref>

Sociologists and psychologists describe such claims as an anti-gay myth,<ref>{{cite book |last=Peddicord |first=Richard |title=Gay and lesbian rights: a question: sexual ethics or social justice? |year=1996 |publisher=Sheed & Ward |location=Kansas City |isbn=978-1-55612-759-5 |url= |page=73}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=W. C. |title=Queer externalities: hazardous encounters in American culture |year=2009 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=978-1-4384-2752-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/queerexternaliti0000harr/page/8/mode/1up |url-access=registration |access-date=4 February 2011 |page=8}}</ref> and a fear-inducing [[bogeyman]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sears |first=James T. |title=Rebels, rubyfruit, and rhinestones: queering space in the Stonewall South |year=2001 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, N.J. |isbn=978-0-8135-2964-6 |url= |page=239}}</ref> Many critics believe the term promotes the [[#Conflation with pedophilia|myth of homosexuals as pedophiles]]:<ref>Harris, p. 156</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fejes |first=Fred |title=Gay rights and moral panic: the origins of America's debate on homosexuality |title-link=Gay Rights and Moral Panic: The Origins of America's Debate on Homosexuality |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4039-8069-4 |edition=1st |location=New York |page=137}}</ref>

* In 1977, Anita Bryant successfully campaigned to repeal an ordinance in [[Miami-Dade County]] that prohibited discrimination on the basis of [[sexual orientation]]. Her campaign was based upon allegations of homosexual recruitment.<ref name="Andreeva 2010">{{cite news |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |last2=Kit |first2=Borys |title=HBO eyes biopic about anti-gay activist Bryant |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bryant-idINTRE6110QZ20100202 |access-date=2 June 2022 |work=Reuters |date=2 February 2010 |quote=As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children.}}</ref> 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'."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Boucai |first=Michael |date=22 December 2010 |title=Gay Rights and Moral Panic: The Origins of America's Debate on Homosexuality (Book review) |journal=[[Journal of Social History]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-248907019.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611123516/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-248907019.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 June 2014 |access-date=30 April 2012}}</ref>
* Oregon's proposed 1992 [[1992 Oregon Ballot Measure 9|Ballot Measure 9]] contained language that would have added anti-LGBT rhetoric to the [[Constitution of Oregon|state Constitution]]. U.S. writer [[Judith Reisman]] justified her support for the measure, citing "a clear avenue for the recruitment of children" by gays and lesbians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-gay minister backs Oregon Measure 9 |agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cs0qAAAAIBAJ&pg=2231%2C2212152 |newspaper=[[Moscow-Pullman Daily News]] |location=Idaho |date=15 October 1992 |access-date=20 December 2010}}</ref>
* In a 1998 debate in the British House of Lords on lowering the same-sex age of consent to 16 (equalising it with the opposite-sex age of consent), former Labour cabinet minister Lord Longford opposed the change by stating that "If some elderly, or not so elderly, schoolmaster seduced one of my sons and taught him to be a homosexual, he would ruin him for life." The age of consent was equalised in the UK in 2001.<ref name="Baker p51">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Paul |title=Public Discourses of Gay Men |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-1-134-27157-3 |page=51 |doi=10.4324/9780203643532 |chapter=Unnatural Acts: the House of Lords debates on gay male law reform}}</ref>
* A [[Rolling Stone (Uganda)|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."<ref name="Uganda Newspaper Published Names">{{cite web |url=http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mE8jac21Q7 |title="Uganda Newspaper Published Names/Photos of LGBT Activists and HRDs – Cover Says 'Hang Them{{'"}} |publisher=[[International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association]] |access-date=10 May 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201032313/http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mE8jac21Q7 |archive-date=1 February 2011}}</ref> According to gay rights activists, many Ugandans were attacked afterward as a result of their real or perceived sexual orientation.<ref name="Akam 2010">{{cite news |last1=Akam |first1=Simon |title=Outcry as Ugandan paper names 'top homosexuals' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/outcry-as-ugandan-paper-names-top-homosexuals-2113348.html |work=The Independent |date=22 October 2010 |location=London}}</ref> Minorities activist [[David Kato]], who was outed in the article and a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit against the paper, was subsequently murdered at home by an intruder<ref name="Rice 27 Jan 2011">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/27/ugandan-gay-rights-activist-murdered |title=Ugandan gay rights activist murdered weeks after court victory |first=Xan |last=Rice |date=27 January 2011 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> and an international outcry resulted.<ref name="Gettleman 2011">{{Cite news |work=The New York Times |date=27 January 2011 |access-date=29 January 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/africa/28uganda.html |first=Jeffrey |last=Gettleman |title=Ugandan Who Spoke Up for Gays Is Beaten to Death |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Rice 29 Jan 2011">{{cite news |title=Murdered Ugandan gay activist talked of threats |author=Rice, Xan |date=29 January 2011 |access-date=29 January 2011 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/murdered-ugandan-gay-activist-talked-of-threats-20110128-1a8ej.html}}</ref>
* In 1998, ''[[The Onion]]'' 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."<ref name="Kaye 2010">{{cite book |last=Marinucci |first=Mimi |editor-last=Kaye |editor-first=Sharon M. |title=The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True Alleges Indignant Area Professor |url= |date=1 December 2010 |publisher=Open Court Publishing |isbn=978-0-8126-9687-5 |page=102}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=29 July 1998 |title='98 Homosexual-Recruitment Drive Nearing Goal |url=http://www.theonion.com/articles/98-homosexualrecruitment-drive-nearing-goal,536/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428015713/https://theonion.com/articles/98-homosexualrecruitment-drive-nearing-goal,536/ |archive-date=28 April 2015 |access-date=30 April 2012 |work=[[The Onion]]}}</ref> According to Mimi Marinucci, most US adults who support gay rights would recognize the story as satire due to unrealistic details.<ref name="Kaye 2010"/> The [[Westboro Baptist Church]] passed along the story as fact,<ref name="Broderick 2007">{{cite book |last1=Broderick |first1=James F. |last2=Miller |first2=Darren W. |title=Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web |url=https://archive.org/details/considersourcecr0000brod/page/267/mode/1up |url-access=registration |access-date=30 April 2012 |date=12 June 2007 |publisher=Information Today, Inc. |isbn=978-0-910965-77-4 |pages=267 ff}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-117422015.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611121804/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-117422015.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 June 2014 |title=Satire lost on antigay group |date=25 May 2004 |newspaper=The Advocate |access-date=30 April 2012}}</ref> citing it as evidence of a gay conspiracy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.03/onion.html |title=Award-Winning Local Journalists Reflect Own Self-Hatred Back on Nightmarish World |last=Schillinger |first=Liesl |date=March 1999 |work=[[Wired News]] |access-date=30 April 2012}}</ref>

=== Homosexual conspiracies ===
{{Further|Gay agenda}}

==== <span class="anchor" id="Homintern"></span> "Homintern" ====
During the [[Cold War]], anti-queer commentators in the United States sought to link homosexuality and [[Communism]], using the terms "homintern" and "[[#Homosexual mafia|homosexual mafia]]" as shorthand for a purported homosexual conspiracy in the arts. "Homintern" is a reference to the "[[Comintern]]", the Soviet-sponsored international organization of communist political parties.{{sfnp|Sherry|2007|pp=1, 42–43}} According to historian [[Michael S. Sherry]], the term was probably used jokingly among artists and writers in England in the 1930s to mock the idea of a powerful [[cabal]] of queer artists.{{sfnp|Sherry|2007|pp=1, 42–43}} Coining of the term has been attributed to various writers including [[W. H. Auden]], [[Cyril Connolly]], [[Jocelyn Brooke]], [[Harold Norse]], and [[Maurice Bowra]].{{sfnp|Sherry|2007|p=42|ps=: "Notions of queer power in the arts were common in Europe by the 1930s, and invention of the word 'homintern' has been claimed by or attributed to W. H. Auden, Cyril Connelly {{sic}}, Harold Norse, Maurice Bowra, and others [...]"}}<ref name="Higgins p287">{{cite book |title=A Queer Reader: 2500 Years of Male Homosexuality |editor-first=Patrick |editor-last=Higgins |publisher=The New Press |location=New York |date=1993 |page=287 |isbn=978-1-56584-210-6 |quote=Anthony Powell suggested that his friend Jocelyn Brooke invented the term that Harold Norse tells us Auden stole from him. Whoever invented it provided us with a splendid word to explain the social and cultural power of homosexuality, the ability of this sexual allegiance to create networks and establish loyalties that do much to shape the imagination of the West. |url=https://archive.org/details/queerreader00higg/page/287/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Sherry coined the phrase "homintern discourse" to refer to mid–20th century American conspiracy theories targeting gay artists, many of whose works were prominently used as propaganda in the [[Cultural Cold War]] against the Soviet Union.<ref name="Montanarelli 2007">{{cite news |last1=Montanarelli |first1=Lisa |title=They're here, queer and art pioneers in Sherry's 'Gay Artists' |url=https://www.sfgate.com/books/article/They-re-here-queer-and-art-pioneers-in-Sherry-s-3300516.php |via=SFGate.com |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=25 November 2007 |access-date=12 December 2023}}</ref> During the [[second Red Scare]] in the 1950s, the "homintern" was invoked by American Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], who used it to claim that the administrations of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Harry S. Truman]] were set on destroying America from within.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blumenthal |first1=Max |title=Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party |date=2010 |publisher=Nation Books |isbn=978-1-56858-417-1 |page=205 |edition=reprint}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=December 2023}} According to Sherry, the "homintern discourse" began to decline with the growth of [[1960s counterculture]] and skepticism about the United States' role in the Cold War and [[Vietnam War]].{{r|Montanarelli 2007}}{{sfnp|Sherry|2007|pp=141, 212}}

==== <span class="anchor" id="Gaystapo"></span> "Gaystapo" ====
The term "Gaystapo" ({{langx|fr|link=no|Gestapette}}) was coined in France in the 1940s by political satirist [[Jean Galtier-Boissière]] for the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] education minister, [[Abel Bonnard]]. It was subsequently applied by [[National Front (France)|National Front]] leader [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]] to [[Florian Philippot]], whom he accused of being a bad influence on [[Marine Le Pen]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Perreau |first1=Bruno |title=Queer Theory: The French Response |date=2016 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford, Calif. |isbn=978-1-5036-0046-1 |url=}}{{Page needed|date=March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Tin |editor-first1=Louis-Georges |title=The Dictionary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lesbian Experience |date=2008 |publisher=Arsenal Pulp Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-1-55152-314-9 |url=}}{{Page needed|date=March 2025}}</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Homosexual mafia"></span><span class="anchor" id="Gay mafia"></span> "Gay mafia" ====
English theater critic [[Kenneth Tynan]] wrote to ''[[Playboy]]'' editor Auguste Comte Spectorsky in 1967, proposing an article on "The Homosexual Mafia" in the arts. Inspired by this idea, ''Playboy'' would subsequently publish a panel discussion on gay issues in April 1971.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Tynan |editor1-first=Kathleen |editor1-link=Kathleen Tynan |title=Kenneth Tynan, Letters |date=1998 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-679-42610-3 |page=399 |url=https://archive.org/details/kennethtynanlett0000tyna/page/399/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration |via=[[Open Library]]}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=March 2025}}

The similar term, "velvet mafia," used to describe the influential gay crowd who supposedly ran Hollywood and the fashion industry in the late 1970s, was coined by ''[[New York Sunday News]]'' writer [[Steven Gaines]] in reference to the [[Robert Stigwood|Robert Stigwood Organization]], a British record company and management group.<ref name="Miller 2021">{{cite magazine |last1=Miller |first1=Julie |title=Drugs, Disco, and a Dead Body: Five Outrageous Studio 54 Stories |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/05/halston-studio-54-real-life |access-date=25 March 2025 |magazine=Vanity Fair |date=14 May 2021}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2025}}

"Gay mafia" became more widely used in the US media in the 1980s and 1990s, such as the American daily ''[[New York Post]]''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} The term was also used by the British [[Tabloid journalism|tabloid]] ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' in response to what it claimed was sinister dominance by gay men in the [[First Blair ministry|Labour Party Cabinet]].<ref name="Lister 1998">{{cite news |last1=Lister |first1=David |title='Sun' rejects outing and sacks Parris {{not a typo|sacks Parris and rejects outing}} |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sun-rejects-outing-and-sacks-parris-sacks-parris-and-rejects-outing-1184294.html |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=The Independent |date=12 November 1998 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="BBC 1998">{{cite news |author1=<!--anonymous author(s)--> |title=Sun changes mind over gays |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/212737.stm |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=BBC News |date=November 12, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmhansrd/cm100407/halltext/100407h0001.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 07 Apr 2010 (pt 0001) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref><ref name="Buerkle 1998">{{cite news |last=Buerkle |first=Tom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/11/news/a-gay-mafia-in-whitehall-sex-is-back-in-the-headlines-in-britain.html |title=A 'Gay Mafia' in Whitehall? Sex Is Back in the Headlines in Britain |date=11 November 1998 |work=The New York Times |access-date=29 December 2014 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Lavender mafia"></span> "Lavender mafia" ====
While the term "Lavender Mafia" has occasionally been used to refer to informal networks of gay executives in the US [[Show business|entertainment industry]],<ref name="De Stefano 2006">{{cite book |last1=De Stefano |first1=George |title=An offer we can't refuse : the Mafia in the mind of America |date=2006 |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=New York |isbn=978-0-571-21157-9}}{{Page needed|date=June 2022}}</ref> more generally it refers to Church politics. For example, a faction within the [[Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|leadership and clergy]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] that allegedly advocates the acceptance of [[Homosexuality and the Catholic Church|homosexuality]] within the Church and its teachings.<ref>Gould, Peter (28 November 2005). "Vatican fuels gay clergy debate". BBC News. Retrieved 8 August 2007.</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Gay lobby"></span> "Gay lobby" ====
[[File:Praha, Na Příkopě, Pride 2017, Homo Lobby.jpg|thumb|alt=Marchers at Prague Pride 2017 carry a satirical "Homo Lobby" sign|Marchers at Prague Pride 2017 carry a satirical "Homo Lobby" sign, a phrase used as a slur by right-wing populist movements in the Czech Republic.]]

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]] runs a "crush the homo lobby" campaign.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=6 July 2018 |title=Swedish neo-Nazi Party Attends Biggest Political Event in Sweden |url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/swedish-neo-nazi-party-attends-biggest-political-event-in-sweden-1.6244771 |work=Haaretz |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> 
According to the German newspaper ''[[Der Tagesspiegel]]'', advocating for LGBT rights could accurately be called [[lobbying]], but the term {{lang|de|Schwulen-Lobby}} ('gay lobby') is insulting because it is used to suggest a powerful conspiracy which does not actually exist.<ref name="Lange 2016">{{cite news |last=Lange |first=Nadine |date=20 September 2016 |title=Gibt es eine Homo-Lobby? |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/queerspiegel/queer-weiss-das-26-gibt-es-eine-homo-lobby/14558598.html |work=Der Tagesspiegel |access-date=9 June 2021 |language=de}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Pope Francis]] spoke about a "gay lobby" within the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], and promised to see what could be done.<ref name="Confirms Vatican Gay Lobby">{{cite news |title=Pope Francis 'confirms Vatican gay lobby and corruption' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22869399 |access-date=27 August 2013 |work=BBC News |date=12 June 2013}}</ref> In July 2013, Francis went on to draw a distinction between the problem of [[lobbying]] and the [[sexual orientation]] 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, [[Catholicism and freemasonry|Masonic]] lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."<ref name="Davies 2013">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/29/pope-francis-openness-gay-priests?CMP=twt_fd |first=Lizzie |last=Davies |title=Pope Francis signals openness towards gay priests |work=The Guardian |date=29 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="BBC News 2013">{{cite news |title=Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23489702 |access-date=27 August 2013 |work=BBC News |date=29 July 2013}}</ref>

== Anti-transgender rhetoric ==
[[File:Scritte Naziste Roma 28-07-07 1746.jpg|thumb|Anti-transgender graffiti in Rome's [[Municipio VIII]] district]]
{{Further|Transphobia}}
{{see also|21st-century anti-trans movement in the United Kingdom}} 

=== Misgendering ===
{{Further info|Misgendering}}{{See also|Deadnaming}}

Misgendering is the act of labelling others with a gender that does not match their [[gender identity]].<ref name="Serano 2009">{{cite book |first=Julia |last=Serano |title=Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity |url= |date=20 May 2009 |publisher=Seal Press |isbn=978-0-7867-4791-7}}</ref> Misgendering can be deliberate or accidental. It can involve using pronouns to describe someone that are not the ones they use,<ref name="Ansara 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Ansara |first1=Gavriel |title=Misgendering in English language contexts: Applying non-cisgenderist methods to feminist research |journal=International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches |date=2013 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=160–177 |issn=1834-0814 |doi=10.5172/mra.2013.7.2.160 |s2cid=145494832}}</ref> calling a person "ma'am" or "sir" in contradiction to the person's gender identity,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Looking Queer: Body Image and Identity in Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender Communities (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies) |last=DeCecco |first=John |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7890-0463-5 |location=New Jersey}}</ref> and using a pre-transition name for someone instead of a post-transition one<ref name="Bender-Baird 2011">{{Cite book |title=Transgender Employment Experiences: Gendered Perceptions and the Law |last=Bender-Baird |first=Kyla |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4384-3676-0 |pages=5–24}}{{Page range too broad|date=June 2022}}</ref> ([[deadnaming]]).<ref>{{cite news |first=Meredith Ramirez |last=Talusan |title=What 'deadnaming' means, and why you shouldn't do it to Caitlyn Jenner |work=Fusion |date=4 June 2015 |url=http://fusion.net/story/144324/what-deadnaming-means-and-why-you-shouldnt-do-it-to-caitlyn-jenner/ |access-date=8 June 2015 |archive-date=7 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207090153/http://fusion.net/story/144324/what-deadnaming-means-and-why-you-shouldnt-do-it-to-caitlyn-jenner/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fae |first1=Jane |title=Changing your name should be a joyous moment, but for many it's a nightmare |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/19/changing-your-name-nightmare-trans |website=Comment is Free |access-date=8 July 2015 |date=19 May 2015}}</ref>

=== Deception and pretending ===

There is a fear that people pretend to be transgender or pretend to be the opposite sex. Brunei and Oman have laws that criminalize transgender people, using phrases such as "posing as [the opposite sex]" and "imitating" members of the opposite sex.<ref>{{Cite web |title=#OUTLAWED: "The love that dare not speak its name" |url=https://features.hrw.org/features/features/lgbt_laws/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}</ref>  There is also rhetoric that male perverts will pretend to be transgender to enter women's restrooms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dastagir |first=Alia E. |title=The imaginary predator in America's transgender bathroom war |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/04/28/transgender-bathroom-bills-discrimination/32594395/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> Another common claim is that men will pretend to be transgender women to gain an advantage playing on women's teams, despite the lack of evidence for this occurring.<ref>{{Cite web |last=House |first=Brandon |date=2021-03-31 |title=Standing United Against the Surge of Anti-Transgender State Legislation |url=https://howardbrown.org/standing-united/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Howard Brown Health |language=en-US}}</ref>

Transgender individuals are often perceived as more deceptive than sexual minorities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Totton |first1=Rebecca |last2=Rios |first2=Kimberly |title=Predictors of anti-transgender attitudes: Identity-confusion and deception as aspects of distrust |journal=Self and Identity |date=19 May 2021 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=496–514 |doi=10.1080/15298868.2019.1621928 |url= |issn=1529-8868}}</ref> [[Passing (gender)|Passing]], or being perceived as the gender one identifies as, is seen as a deceptive or predatory act.<ref name=":0" /> Not passing is also seen as a poor attempt at deception.<ref name=":0">Billard, Thomas. (2019). “Passing” and the Politics of Deception: Transgender Bodies, Cisgender Aesthetics, and the Policing of Inconspicuous Marginal Identities. </ref> One study sought to compare the perceived deception of transgender people to another marginalized and concealable identity, atheism, by having non-LGBT, non-atheist participants read hypothetical date situations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Totton |first1=Rebecca R. |last2=Rios |first2=Kimberly |last3=Shogren |first3=Nathaniel |date=2023-01-26 |title=Distrusted disclosures: Deception drives anti-transgender but not anti-atheist prejudice |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=13 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1006107 |doi-access=free |pmid=36778166 |issn=1664-1078|pmc=9908580 }}</ref> The transgender dates were perceived as more deceptive than atheists, regardless of whether they intentionally disclosed that they are transgender or if it was accidentally revealed.<ref name=":1" />

The idea of deception extends to cisgender men's attraction to transgender women. The word 'trap' is used to imply that a transgender woman tricked a man into having gay sex.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Gwendolyn |date=2023-03-25 |title=Lies and Deceptions |url=https://epgn.com/2023/03/25/lies-and-deceptions/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Philadelphia Gay News |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[trans panic defense]] also leans into this perceived deception. The trans panic defense is used as a defense strategy in court, claiming the defendant killed the victim due to the emotional provocation of realizing the victim was transgender.<ref name=":2" /> According to Professor of Law Cynthia Lee,  "Instead of admitting that what he did was wrong, a murder defendant claiming trans panic blames the victim for his actions, arguing that the transgender victim’s deceit caused him to lose self-control."<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Cynthia |date=2020 |title=The Trans Panic Defense Revisited |url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/american-criminal-law-review/in-print/volume-57-number-4-fall-2020/the-trans-panic-revisited/ |journal=American Criminal Law Review |volume=57 |issue=24}}</ref> After the murder of trans woman [[Gwen Araujo]], the defense lawyer said, "This is the case... about... the tragic results when that deception and betrayal were discovered.”<ref name=":2" /> This idea of deception on the part of transgender victims implies they deserved to be killed.<ref name=":2" />

=== Bathroom bills ===
{{Further|Unisex public toilet#Criticism}}{{Excerpt|Bathroom bill|paragraphs=1-2}}{{Further|Gender-critical feminism}}
{{See also|Womyn-born womyn}}
Some positions within feminist theory have used denialist rhetoric viewed as transphobic. Those that hold these positions are known as [[trans-exclusionary radical feminists]], 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."<ref name="Raymond p134">{{cite book |last=Raymond |first=Janice G. |title=The transsexual empire |publisher=Beacon Press |location=Boston, Massachusetts |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-8070-2164-4 |page=134}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Goldberg 2014">{{cite magazine |last1=Goldberg |first1=Michelle |author-link=Michelle Goldberg |title=What Is a Woman? |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=4 August 2014 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |issn=0028-792X |oclc=320541675 |publisher=[[Condé Nast]] |access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref>

Some [[Second-wave feminism|second-wave feminists]] perceive trans men and women respectively as "traitors" and "infiltrators" to womanhood.<ref name="Erickson-Schroth 2014">{{cite book |last1=Erickson-Schroth |first1=Laura |title=Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community |date=12 May 2014 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-932535-1 |pages=568–569 |url= |quote=Some feminists have perceived transmasculine people as traitors—that is, as women who identify politically with men. When inclusive of trans men, these feminists have often gendered them as women. Conversely, these feminists have tended to perceive transfeminine people as infiltrators of womanhood and of women's space.}}</ref> In a 1997 article, Australian lesbian feminist [[Sheila Jeffreys]] wrote that {{nobr|"[T]ranssexualism}} should be seen as a violation of human rights." Jeffreys also argued that by [[Transition (transgender)|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."<ref name="Jeffreys 1997">{{Cite journal |journal=Journal of Lesbian Studies |last=Jeffreys |first=Sheila |title=Transgender activism: a lesbian feminist perspective |volume=1 |issue=3–4 |pages=55–74 |doi=10.1300/J155v01n03_03 |date=May 1997}} [http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/sites/default/files/imce/Transgender%20Activism%20A%20Lesbian%20Feminist%20Perspective%20by%20Sheila%20Jeffreys%2C%20Journal%20of%20Lesbian%20Studies%201997%5B1%5D.pdf Pdf.]</ref>

=== Social contagion ===

Some anti-transgender rhetoric centers on the idea of transgender identity being due to indoctrination or [[social contagion]]. According to [[GLAAD]], "Another prominent anti-LGBTQ trope includes the use of anti-trans buzzwords like 'gender ideology' and 'transgenderism' to claim that the LGBTQ+ community and its allies aim to indoctrinate or brainwash kids into identifying as transgender."<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 May 2024 |title=Online Hate = Offline Harm – 2024 Social Media Safety Index {{!}} GLAAD |url=https://glaad.org/smsi/2024/online-hate-tropes-connected-to-offline-harm/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=glaad.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Some conservative publications have argued that peer pressure and social media causes teens, especially those [[assigned female at birth]], to be influenced into becoming transgender; they argue this results in harm to youth by leading them to undergo transition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eckert |first=Jared |title=Tech and Trans Confusion |url=https://www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/tech-and-trans-confusion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621152809/https://www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/tech-and-trans-confusion |url-status=unfit |archive-date=21 June 2022 |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=The Heritage Foundation |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lowry |first=Rich |date=29 March 2023 |title=Lowry: Kids facing transgender peer pressure |url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/03/29/lowry-kids-facing-transgender-peer-pressure/ |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Boston Herald |language=en-US}}</ref> 

Social contagion rhetoric has seen use in the TERF and transmedicalism community with the term [[transtrender]].<ref name=":3" /> This is a pejorative term that implies some people, especially transgender youth and non-binary people, choose to be transgender due to a trend or social contagion.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=1 December 2023 |title=Transtrender: Definition, Meaning, and Origin in Anti-LGBTQ Hate {{!}} GLAAD |url=https://glaad.org/transtrender-definition-meaning-anti-lgbt-online-hate/ |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=glaad.org}}</ref> 

A scientifically unsupported hypothesis called [[rapid-onset gender dysphoria]] (ROGD) also incorporates the idea of social contagion.<ref name="Turban 2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Turban |first1=Jack L. |last2=Dolotina |first2=Brett |last3=King |first3=Dana |last4=Keuroghlian |first4=Alex S. |date=1 September 2022 |title=Sex Assigned at Birth Ratio Among Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents in the United States |journal=Pediatrics |volume=150 |issue=3 |doi=10.1542/peds.2022-056567 |pmid=35918512 |issn=0031-4005}}</ref> The hypothesis is that people who identify as transgender in adolescence rather than before puberty do so as a result of social contagion.<ref name="Turban 2022" /> It is believed that that people assigned female at birth as well as people with mental health issues, neurodevelopmental disorders, or maladaptive coping mechanisms are particularly susceptible to ROGD.<ref name="Turban 2022" /><ref name="Bauer 2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=Greta R. |last2=Lawson |first2=Margaret L. |last3=Metzger |first3=Daniel L. |date=1 April 2022 |title=Do Clinical Data from Transgender Adolescents Support the Phenomenon of "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria"? |journal=The Journal of Pediatrics |volume=243 |pages=224–227.e2 |doi=10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.11.020 |issn=0022-3476 |doi-access=free |pmid=34793826}}</ref> Clinical data from transgender adolescents does not support an association between recent/rapid knowledge of one's gender and mental health issues, neurodevelopmental disorders, self-harm, depression symptoms or social support.<ref name="Bauer 2022" />

The term rapid-onset gender dysphoria was created in 2016 on 4thWaveNow, a blog against gender-affirming care.<ref name="Ashley 2020">{{Cite journal |last=Ashley |first=Florence |date=2020 |title=A critical commentary on 'rapid-onset gender dysphoria' |url= |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=779–799 |doi=10.1177/0038026120934693 |issn=0038-0261}}</ref> Through 4thWaveNow, [[Transgender Trend|TransgenderTrend]], and Youth Trans Critical Professionals, Lisa Littman found parents to participate in her study on ROGD.<ref name="Ashley 2020" /> The study ended up being corrected after publication to make it clear it established a hypothesis, but did not prove it.<ref name="Ashley 2020" /> Despite the correction, ROGD increased in use following the study.<ref name="Ashley 2020" />

ROGD has been used to argue against gender affirming care for minors and positive LGBT representation in schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Foundations of the Contemporary Anti-LGBTQ+ Pseudoscience Network |url=https://www.splcenter.org/captain/foundations |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=12 December 2023 }}</ref> According to a study in Pediatrics, "The deleterious effect of unfounded hypotheses stigmatizing TGD youth, particularly the ROGD hypothesis, cannot be overstated, especially in current and longstanding public policy debates. Indeed, the notion of ROGD has been used by legislators to prohibit TGD youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care".<ref name="Turban 2022" /> The Coalition for the Advancement and Application of Psychological Science calls for the elimination of the term due to its potential to limit and stigmatize gender-affirming care.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ROGD Statement |url=https://www.caaps.co/rogd-statement |access-date=24 November 2024 |website=Coalition for the Advancement & Application of Psychological science}}</ref>

===Transgender as mental illness===
{{see also|Transgender health care misinformation}}
Conservative groups and governments have classified transgender identities as a mental disorder or caused by mental illness. Peru passed a short-lived insurance law in 2024 categorizing transgender identities as a mental disorder.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 June 2024 |title=Peru to stop labeling transgender people as mentally ill |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-stop-labeling-transgender-people-mentally-ill-2024-06-25/ |work=Reuters}}</ref> The [[American College of Pediatricians]], described as an anti-LGBT group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, says that "adolescents can embrace their bodies through counseling alone when it is directed toward underlying psychological issues."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deconstructing Transgender Pediatrics |url=https://acpeds.org/topics/sexuality-issues-of-youth/gender-confusion-and-transgender-identity/deconstructing-transgender-pediatrics |website=American College of Pediatricians}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=American College of Pediatricians |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/american-college-pediatricians |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |language=en}}</ref> The belief that non-cisgender identity are mental disorders is an underlying assumption of [[conversion therapy]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts (so-called "conversion therapy") |url=https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/conversion-therapy-issue-brief.pdf |website=American Medical Association}}</ref>

===Transgender desistance and regret===
The transgender desistance myth is the idea that most transgender youth are confused, and 80 percent will eventually return to being cisgender.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Newhook |first1=Julia Temple |last2=Winters |first2=Kelley |last3=Pyne |first3=Jake |last4=Jamieson |first4=Ally |last5=Holmes |first5=Cindy |last6=Feder |first6=Stephen |last7=Pickett |first7=Sarah |last8=Sinnott |first8=Mari-Lynne |date=May 2018 |title=Teach your parents and providers well: Call for refocus on the health of trans and gender-diverse children |journal=Canadian Family Physician |language=en |volume=64 |issue=5 |pages=332–335 |pmid=29760251 |pmc=5951646 }}</ref> This is based off a series of papers from 2008 to 2013 which have been scrutinized for the following: using outdated diagnostic criteria for gender identity disorder (now gender dysphoria) that conflate gender identity and expression, including children who did not meet the criteria for a gender identity disorder diagnosis, including children who did not assert that they were transgender, disregarding non-binary gender identities, counting children who did not follow-up years later as desisting, and assuming that transgender people who persist must desire medical transition. <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Trans Youth Desistance Myth – Trans Sask |url=https://www.transsask.ca/the-trans-youth-desistance-myth/#:~:text=The%20Desistance%20Myth%20is%20the,access%20to%20justifying%20conversion%20therapy. |access-date=2025-03-02 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4" />

As of 2022, most papers about transgender youth desistance are editorials rather than studies.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Karrington |first=Baer |date=2022-06-01 |title=Defining Desistance: Exploring Desistance in Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth Through Systematic Literature Review |journal=Transgender Health |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=189–212 |doi=10.1089/trgh.2020.0129 |pmid=36643060 |issn=2688-4887 |pmc=9829142 }}</ref> The studies which do exist are considered poor quality.<ref name=":5" /> Many do not explicitly define what counts as desistance, and those that do tend to conflate the disappearance of gender dysphoria with returning to a cisgender identity.<ref name=":5" /> 

Transgender desistance and regret often is used to justify gender affirming care bans for transition.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Salvetti |first1=Bianca |last2=Gallagher |first2=Mary |last3=Schapiro |first3=Naomi A. |last4=Daley |first4=Alison Moriarty |date=2024-03-01 |title=Prioritizing Gender-Affirming Care for Youth: The Role of Pediatric-Focused Clinicians |journal=Journal of Pediatric Health Care |series=A Closer Look at Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Pediatric Healthcare |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=253–259 |doi=10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.12.006 |pmid=38429038 |issn=0891-5245}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=New research finds trans teens have high satisfaction with gender care |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/10/23/nx-s1-5161428/trans-kids-regret-gender-affirming-care |access-date=2025-03-02 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> Research shows detransition due to regret is rare. 1.3 percent of transgender and gender diverse youth and 13.1 percent of transgender and gender diverse adults detransition after receiving gender-affirming care.<ref name=":6" />  Most adults detransition due to outside factors such as stigma from their families or society rather than realizing they are not transgender.<ref name=":6" />

==Legality and censorship==
[[Hate speech]] against LGBT people, or incitement to hatred against them, is criminalized in some countries,<ref>{{cite web |title=Hate crime & hate speech |url=https://www.ilga-europe.org/what-we-do/our-advocacy-work/hate-crime-hate-speech |website=[[ILGA-Europe]] |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=27 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200827190958/https://www.ilga-europe.org/what-we-do/our-advocacy-work/hate-crime-hate-speech |url-status=dead}}</ref> for example, the [[Netherlands]],<ref name="Dutch penal code">{{cite web |url=http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001854/TweedeBoek/TitelV/Artikel137c |title=Dutch penal code – article 137c |access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref> [[Norway]],<ref name="Norwegian penal code">{{cite web |url=http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19020522-010-017.html |title=Norwegian Penal code, ''Straffeloven'', section 135 a. |publisher= |access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref> and [[Sweden]].<ref name="Morén 2012">{{Cite news |url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/lag-om-hets-mot-folkgrupp-innefattar-homosexuella/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724173853/http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/lag-om-hets-mot-folkgrupp-innefattar-homosexuella |title=Lag om hets mot folkgrupp innefattar homosexuella - DN.SE |date=24 July 2012 |archive-date=24 July 2012 |newspaper=Dagens Nyheter |access-date=17 March 2021 |last=Morén |url-status=live |first=Kristoffer}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ hate groups]]
* [[Biphobia]]
* "[[Drop the T]]"
* [[Globohomo]]{{dash}}Variant of the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory
* [[Homophobic propaganda]]
* [[Identity politics]]
* [[Lavender scare]]
* [[Lesbophobia]]
* [[LGBTQ stereotypes]]
* [[Religion and homosexuality]]
* [[Societal attitudes toward homosexuality]]
* [[Stop Murder Music]]
* [[Transgender health care misinformation]]
* [[Transmisogyny]]
{{div-col-end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFAlvaradoChurchill2019}}

==Further reading==
Kerwick, Freya, Turner, Jackie,  Trans Justice Project (2024) [https://commonslibrary.org/the-anti-trans-disinformation-handbook/ The Anti-Trans Disinformation Handbook].  Commons Social Change Library{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Brummett |first1=Barry |title=A pentadic analysis of ideologies in two gay rights controversies |journal=Central States Speech Journal |date=1979 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=250–261 |doi=10.1080/10510977909368018}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Burack |first1=Cynthia |title=From Doom Town to Sin City: Chick Tracts and Anti-gay Political Rhetoric |journal=New Political Science |date=2006 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=163–179 |doi=10.1080/07393140600679843 |s2cid=144985657}}
*{{cite book |last1=Burack |first1=Cynthia |title=Sin, Sex, and Democracy: Antigay Rhetoric and the Christian Right |date=17 April 2008 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7406-8}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Dugan |first1=Kimberly B. |title=Strategy and "Spin": Opposing Movement Frames in an Anti-Gay Voter Initiative |journal=Sociological Focus |date=2004 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=213–233 |doi=10.1080/00380237.2004.10571243 |s2cid=143775320}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Eskridge |first1=William N. Jr |title=No Promo Homo: The Sedimentation of Antigay Discourse and the Channeling Effect of Judicial Review |journal=New York University Law Review |date=2000 |volume=75 |pages=1327–}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Fetner |first1=Tina |title=Ex-Gay Rhetoric and the Politics of Sexuality: The Christian Antigay/Pro-Family Movement's "Truth in Love" Ad Campaign |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |date=2005 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=71–95 |doi=10.1300/J082v50n01_04 |pmid=16368665 |hdl=11375/21101 |s2cid=31672425 |hdl-access=free}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=W. C. |title="In My Day It Used to Be Called a Limp Wrist": Flip-Floppers, Nelly Boys, and Homophobic Rhetoric in the 2004 US Presidential Campaign |journal=The Journal of American Culture |date=2006 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=278–295 |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.2006.00371.x}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Gadarian |first1=Shana Kushner |last2=van der Vort |first2=Eric |title=The Gag Reflex: Disgust Rhetoric and Gay Rights in American Politics |journal=Political Behavior |date=2018 |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=521–543 |doi=10.1007/s11109-017-9412-x |s2cid=254937380 |issn=1573-6687 |doi-access=}}
* {{cite web |last1=Kirchick |first1=James |author-link=James Kirchick |date=31 May 2022 |title=The Long, Sordid History of the Gay Conspiracy Theory |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/05/the-long-sordid-history-of-the-gay-conspiracy-theory.html |website=Intelligencer}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Elizabeth |title=Animus in the Closet: Outing the Addiction Parallels in Anti-Gay Legal Rhetoric |journal=UC Irvine Law Review |date=2013 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=151– |url=https://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr/vol3/iss1/11/ |issn=2327-4514}}
*{{cite thesis |last1=Mazza |first1=Michael James |title=This Fierce Geometry: Uses of the Judeo-Christian Bible in the Anti-Abolitionist and Anti-Gay Rhetoric of the United States |date=2009 |url=http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/7568/ |degree=PhD |institution=[[University of Pittsburgh]]}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Perkins |first1=Anna Kasafi |title=More than Words: Evangelicals, the Rhetoric of Battle and the Fight over Gay Rights in the Caribbean |journal=Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies |date=2016 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=13–46 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35162542}}
*{{cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=Michael |title=Homosexuelle, Seilschaften, Verrat: Ein transnationales Stereotyp im 20. Jahrhundert |date=2019 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-063650-5 |language=de}}
*{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Ralph R. |last2=Windes |first2=Russel R. |title=Progay/Antigay |date=2000 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-0-7619-1647-5}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=Craig O. |title=Social cognition and discourse processing goals in the analysis of 'ex-gay' rhetoric |journal=Discourse & Society |date=2008 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=63–83 |doi=10.1177/0957926507083689 |s2cid=144039300}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Woods |first1=Gregory |title=The 'Conspiracy' of the 'Homintern' |journal=[[The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide]] |date=2003 |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=11–13 |issn=1532-1118}}
{{refend}}

{{LGBTQ|social}}
{{Discrimination}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Lgbt Slogans}}
[[Category:Anti-LGBTQ sentiment]]
[[Category:Defamation]]
[[Category:Framing (social sciences)]]
[[Category:Hate speech]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:LGBTQ and society]]
[[Category:Majority–minority relations]]
[[Category:Persecution of LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Political communication]]
[[Category:Populism]]
[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Social conservatism]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Biphobia]]
[[Category:Lesbophobia]]