View source for Opposition to LGBTQ rights

{{Short description|Opposition to legal rights for LGBTQ people}}
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{{LGBTQ rights}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

Opposition to [[legal rights]] for [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[bisexual]], [[transgender]], and [[queer]] ([[LGBTQ]]) people exists worldwide. Opponents of [[LGBTQ rights]] may object to the [[decriminalization of homosexuality]], laws permitting [[Civil unions|civil unions or partnerships]], [[same-sex parenting]] and [[Same-sex adoption|adoption]], the inclusion of [[LGBTQ people and military service|LGBTQ people in the military]], access to [[assisted reproductive technology]], and [[gender-affirming surgery]] and [[gender-affirming hormone therapy|hormone therapy]] for [[transgender]] individuals.

Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights often resist the enactment of laws legalizing [[same-sex marriage]], the passage of anti-discrimination legislation aimed at curbing [[discrimination against LGBTQ people]] (including in employment and housing), the adoption of anti-bullying laws to protect LGBTQ minors, the decriminalization of same-gender relationships, and other related laws.<ref name="Fetner 2001">{{cite journal |author-last=Fetner |author-first=Tina |date=August 2001 |title=Working Anita Bryant: The Impact of Christian Anti-Gay Activism on Lesbian and Gay Movement Claims |journal=[[Social Problems]] |volume=48 |issue=3 |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] on behalf of the [[Society for the Study of Social Problems]] |pages=411–428 |doi=10.1525/sp.2001.48.3.411 |hdl=11375/21175 |issn=1533-8533 |s2cid=144876642 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> These groups are often [[Religious conservatism|religious]] or [[Social conservatism|socially conservative]] in nature.{{refn|<ref name="Gannon 1981">{{cite journal |author-last=Gannon |author-first=Thomas M. |date=July–September 1981 |title=The New Christian Right in America as a Social and Political Force |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1981_num_52_1_2226 |journal=[[Archives de sciences sociales des religions]] |location=[[Paris]] |publisher=[[School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences|Éditions de l'EHESS]] |volume=26 |issue=52–1 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.3406/assr.1981.2226 |issn=0335-5985 |jstor=30125411 |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=2 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602141039/https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1981_num_52_1_2226 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="McKeegan 1993">{{cite journal |author-last=McKeegan |author-first=Michele |date=Fall 1993 |title=The politics of abortion: A historical perspective |journal=[[Women's Health Issues (journal)|Women's Health Issues]] |publisher=[[Elsevier]] on behalf of the [[Jacobs Institute of Women's Health]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=127–131 |doi=10.1016/S1049-3867(05)80245-2 |issn=1878-4321 |pmid=8274866 |s2cid=36048222}}</ref><ref name="Ibrahim 2016">{{cite journal |author-last=Ibrahim |author-first=Nur Amali |date=October 2016 |title=Homophobic Muslims: Emerging Trends in Multireligious Singapore |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=58 |issue=4 |location=[[Cambridge]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=955–981 |doi=10.1017/S0010417516000499 |issn=1475-2999 |jstor=26293235 |s2cid=152039212}}</ref><ref name="lawnet.fordham.edu">{{cite journal |last1=Rehman |first1=Javaid |last2=Polymenopoulou |first2=Eleni |date=2013 |title=Is Green a Part of the Rainbow? ''Sharia'', Homosexuality, and LGBT Rights in the Muslim World |url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2322&context=ilj |url-status=live |format=PDF |journal=[[Fordham International Law Journal]] |publisher=[[Fordham University School of Law]] |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=1–53 |issn=0747-9395 |oclc=52769025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721220600/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2322&context=ilj |archive-date=21 July 2018 |access-date=30 October 2021}}</ref>}} Such opposition can be motivated by [[homophobia]],<ref name="Fetner 2001"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/> [[transphobia]],<ref name="Fetner 2001"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/> [[bigotry]],{{refn|<ref name="Fetner 2001"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/>}} animosity,{{refn|<ref name="Fetner 2001"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/><ref name="opinion">{{cite court |litigants=Romer v. Evans |vol=517 |reporter=U.S. |opinion=620 |date=1996 |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=U10179}}</ref>}} [[religion]],{{refn|<ref name="Gannon 1981"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/><ref name="lawnet.fordham.edu"/>}} [[Morality|moral beliefs]],{{refn|<ref name="Gannon 1981"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/><ref name="lawnet.fordham.edu"/>}} [[political ideologies]],{{refn|<ref name="Gannon 1981"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Ibrahim 2016"/><ref name="lawnet.fordham.edu"/>}} or other factors.

According to the ''[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'', "[[natural law theory]] offers the most common intellectual defense for differential treatment of gays and lesbians".<ref name=Stanford>{{cite web |last1=Pickett |first1=Brent |title=Homosexuality |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/homosexuality/ |website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=25 August 2020 |date=2020 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824200314/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/homosexuality/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Dag Øistein Endsjø]], a Norwegian scholar and professor of [[religious studies]], and the [[United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief]], have stated that religious belief underpins most forms of opposition to LGBTQ rights.<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Endsjø |author-first=Dag Øistein |date=May 2020 |title=The other way around? How freedom of religion may protect LGBT rights |url=https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/83580/1/Endsjo-IJHR2020-The%2Bother%2Bway%2Baround%2BHow%2Bfreedom%2Bof%2Breligion%2Bmay%2Bprotect%2BLGBT%2Brights.pdf |url-status=live |journal=The International Journal of Human Rights |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=24 |issue=10 |pages=1681–1700 |doi=10.1080/13642987.2020.1763961 |doi-access=free |issn=1744-053X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719094132/https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/83580/1/Endsjo-IJHR2020-The%2Bother%2Bway%2Baround%2BHow%2Bfreedom%2Bof%2Breligion%2Bmay%2Bprotect%2BLGBT%2Brights.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2022 |access-date=19 July 2022 |quote=That religious beliefs lie at the heart of most of the opposition to LGBT rights is a generally known fact. As the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief noted in 2017, 'in certain States where religion has been given 'official' or privileged status, other fundamental rights of individuals – especially women, religious minorities, and members of the LGBTI community – are disproportionately restricted or vitiated under threat of sanctions as a result of obligatory observation of State-imposed religious orthodoxy.'}}</ref>
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== History ==
[[File:Institut für Sexualwissenschaft - Bibliothek 1933.jpg|thumb|left|[[German Student Union]] members plunder the [[Institut für Sexualwissenschaft]] in preparation to [[Nazi book burning|burn its books]], May 1933]]
The first organized [[gay rights movement]] arose in the late nineteenth century in Germany.<ref name=chron>{{cite web |url=http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/CHR06.HTM |title=Archive for Sexology |work=hu-berlin.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709054341/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/CHR06.HTM |archive-date=9 July 2008}}</ref>

In the 1920s and into the early 1930s, there were [[LGBTQ communities]] in cities like Berlin; German-Jewish sexologist [[Magnus Hirschfeld]] was one of the most notable spokespeople for LGBTQ rights at this time. When the Nazi party came to power in 1933, one of the party's first acts was to burn down Hirschfeld's ''[[Institut für Sexualwissenschaft]]'', where many prominent Nazis had been treated for perceived sexual problems.<ref name="Lenz">{{cite book |quote=...not ten percent of those men who, in 1933, took the fate of Germany into their hands, were sexually normal |first=Ludwig L. |last=Lenz |title=The Memoirs of a Sexologist |publisher=Cadillac Publishing|location=New York |year=1954 |page=429}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Erwin |last=Haeberle |title=Swastika, Pink Triangle, and Yellow Star – The Destruction of Sexology and the Persecution of Homosexuals in Nazi Germany |journal=The Journal of Sex Research |volume=17 |issue=3 |date=August 1981 |pages=270–287 |doi=10.1080/00224498109551120 |url=http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SWAST.HTM |via=Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin |access-date=14 April 2010 |archive-date=16 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416025939/http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/SWAST.HTM |url-status=dead |jstor=3812563 |pmid=28135957|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Initially tolerant to the homosexuality of [[Ernst Röhm]] and his followers, many [[gay men]] were purged from the Nazi Party following the [[Night of the Long Knives]] and the [[Paragraph 175|Section 175 Laws]] began to be enforced again, with gay men interned in [[concentration camp]]s by 1938.{{efn|See [[Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust]].}}

Under the [[Nazi]] rule in Germany, the dismantling of rights for LGBTQ individuals was approached in two ways. By strengthening and re-enforcing existing laws that had fallen into disuse, male homosexuality was effectively re-criminalised; homosexuality was treated as a medical disorder, but at a social level rather than individual level intended to reduce the incidence of homosexuality. The treatment was a program of [[Nazi eugenics|eugenics]], starting with [[Sterilization (medicine)|sterilisation]], then a system of working people to death in forced labour camps, and eventually refined by medical scientists to include [[euthanasia]]. The driving force was the elimination of perceived [[Racial hygiene|degeneracy]] at various levels – genetic, social, identity and practice, and the elimination of such genetic material in society. Lifton wrote about this in his book ''The Nazi Doctors'':<ref name="LIFTON">{{Cite book |last=Lifton |first=Robert |title=The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide |publisher=Basic Books |year=1986}}</ref>

[[File:§175 chart of convictions.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Graph of convictions under Germany's [[Paragraph 175]]. Spike occurs during [[Zeit des Nationalsozialismus|Nazi era]], and dropoff after partial repeal in 1969.]]
<blockquote>[...] sexology and defense of homosexuality [...] were aspects of "sexual degeneration, a breakdown of the family and loss of all that is decent," and ultimately the destruction of the German Folk. [...] medicine was to join in the great national healing mission, and the advance image of what Nazi doctors were actually to become: the healer turned killer. [...] Sterilization policies were always associated with the therapeutic and regenerative principles of the biomedical vision: with the "purification of the national body" and the "eradication of morbid hereditary dispositions." Sterilization was considered part of "negative eugenics" [...]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaust-history.org/lifton/LiftonT042.shtml |title=Lifton' Nazi Doctors p.42 |work=holocaust-history.org |access-date=2009-06-29 |archive-date=2009-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718203340/http://www.holocaust-history.org/lifton/LiftonT042.shtml |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

It is argued that the number of gay people who perished in the Holocaust was quite low in comparison to other [[Holocaust victims]], and confined to Germany itself, based on estimates that of 50,000 gay people who came before the courts, between 5,000 and 15,000<ref name=ushm>{{cite web |url=http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/traveling-exhibitions/nazi-persecution-of-homosexuals |title=Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933–1945 |publisher=Ushmm.org |access-date=21 August 2013 |archive-date=14 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114212332/http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/traveling-exhibitions/nazi-persecution-of-homosexuals |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaust-trc.org/homosx.htm |title=Homosexuals – Holocaust Teacher Resource Center |publisher=Holocaust-trc.org |access-date=21 August 2013 |archive-date=26 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926105718/http://www.holocaust-trc.org/homosx.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> ended up in concentration camps. However, many of those who came before the courts were directed (or volunteered) to undergo sterilisation/castration; they would be included with others who, in line with the historic shift in German society (that started with [[Karl Friedrich Otto Westphal|Westphal]], and developed through [[Krafft-Ebing]] to [[Magnus Hirschfeld]], of homosexuality being seen as having a neurological, endocrinological or genetic basis), were treated for homosexuality as a medical rather than criminal matter.

After the [[Second World War]], the [[United States]] became more intolerant of homosexuality,<ref>Michael Klarman: ''From the Closet to the Altar: Courts, Backlash, and the Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage''.  Oxford University Press, 2013.</ref> but many gay men and lesbians decided to reveal their gay identities after meeting others in the military.<ref name=infoplease>{{cite web |title=Milestones in the Gay Rights Movement |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0194028.html |website=infoplease.com |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=10 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210001759/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0194028.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Many gay bars and villages were created, and a whole gay [[subculture]] formed.<ref name=infoplease/> Campaigns for gay rights began to develop, initially in the UK.<ref>{{cite news |title=1957: Homosexuality 'should not be a crime' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/4/newsid_3007000/3007686.stm |website=news.bbc.co.uk |date=4 September 1957 |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=15 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215085041/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/4/newsid_3007000/3007686.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> Towards the end of the 1960s homosexuality began to be decriminalised and de-medicalised in areas such as the UK, New Zealand, Australia, North America and Europe, in the context of the [[sexual revolution]] and [[anti-psychiatry]] movements. Organized opposition to gay and lesbian rights began in the 1970s.<ref name=Himmelstein>Jerome Himmelstein, p. 97; Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Religious Right, p.49–50, Sara Diamond, [[South End Press]], Boston, MA</ref>

==Public opinion==
{{Main|Societal attitudes toward homosexuality}}
Societal attitudes towards homosexuality vary greatly in different cultures and different historical periods, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. All cultures have their own [[Sexual norm|norms regarding appropriate and inappropriate sexuality]]; some sanction same-sex love and sexuality, while others disapprove of such activities.<ref>Murray, Stephen O., ''Homosexualities'', University of Chicago 2000</ref>

According to The 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, "Throughout Western Europe and much of the Americas, there is widespread tolerance towards homosexuality. However, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Israel stand apart from other wealthy nations on this issue; in each of these countries, fewer than half of those surveyed say homosexuality should be accepted by society. Meanwhile, in most of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, there is less tolerance toward homosexuality."<ref>{{cite web |title=World Publics Welcome Global Trade – But Not Immigration |url=http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/258.pdf |website=pewglobal.org |publisher=The Pew Global Attitudes Project |access-date=14 February 2015 |date=4 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205193757/http://pewglobal.org/files/pdf/258.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

However, a 2012 [[CNN]] poll showed that a majority number of Americans are in favor of gay rights, such as same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06/cnn-poll-americans-attitudes-toward-gay-community-changing/ |title=CNN Poll: Americans' attitudes toward gay community changing |publisher=politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com |date=6 June 2012 |access-date=21 August 2013 |archive-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018004647/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06/cnn-poll-americans-attitudes-toward-gay-community-changing/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> In late 2015, a poll of Japanese people also found that a majority supported same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/29/new-poll-shows-majority-of-japanese-support-marriage-equality/ |title=New poll shows majority of Japanese support marriage equality |date=29 November 2015 |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-date=14 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214090920/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/29/new-poll-shows-majority-of-japanese-support-marriage-equality/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Religious reasons for opposition==
{{Essay-like|section|date=July 2015}}
{{Main|Religion and homosexuality}}
{{see also|Human sexuality#Religious sexual morality}}
Many religions, including ones within the Eastern faiths and [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic faiths]], do not support homosexual sex. [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical Christianity]],<ref>Strauss, Lehman, Litt.D., F.R.G.S. [http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1302 "Homosexuality: The Christian Perspective"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415203635/http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1302 |date=15 April 2007 }}.</ref> [[Catholicism]],<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rom.htm "Roman Catholics and Homosexuality"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317054718/http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_rom.htm |date=17 March 2017 }}, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2006)</ref> [[Mormonism]],<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/family?lang=eng "Teaching about Procreation and Chastity: Homosexuality"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524174202/http://www.lds.org/hf/fhe/welcome/0,16785,4210-1,00.html |date=24 May 2013 }}, The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. Home & Family.</ref> [[Orthodox Judaism]],<ref>Shafran, Rabbi Avi. [http://www.jlaw.com/Commentary/maritalprob.html "Jewish Law: Marital Problems"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006153527/http://www.jlaw.com/Commentary/maritalprob.html |date=6 October 2016 }}. Jewish Law Commentary: Examining Halacha, Jewish Issues, and Secular Law.</ref> and [[Islam]]<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_isla1.htm "Islam and Homosexuality"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317055607/http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_isla1.htm |date=17 March 2017 }}, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (2005).</ref> view homosexual sex as a [[sin]] and hold that its practice and acceptance in society weakens moral standards.

=== Christian opposition ===
[[File:Time Magazine cover April 13, 2015.webp|thumb|right|A 2015 cover of [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] highlighting the conflict between some [[Christianity and homosexuality|Christian denominations' views]] and [[LGBTQ rights]]]]
[[File:Gay marriage warning (19083064780).jpg|thumb|Protesters against [[same-sex marriage]] at the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] in 2015]]
{{Main|Christianity and homosexuality|Christianity and transgender people|List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality|The Bible and homosexuality}}

Passages in the [[Old Testament]] that prohibit man to "lie with mankind as with womankind"{{efn|[http://biblehub.com/kjv/leviticus/18.htm Leviticus 18:22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908032117/http://biblehub.com/kjv/leviticus/18.htm |date=8 September 2015 }} and [http://biblehub.com/kjv/leviticus/20.htm Leviticus 20:13] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150901183407/http://biblehub.com/kjv/leviticus/20.htm |date=1 September 2015 }} (KJV).}} and the story of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] have historically been interpreted as condemning [[sodomy]]. Several [[Paul the Apostle|Pauline]] passages have also been cited against male and female homosexuality.{{efn|[http://biblehub.com/kjv/romans/1.htm Romans 1:25–28] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821235011/http://biblehub.com/kjv/romans/1.htm |date=21 August 2015 }} – these are often considered the only explicit references in the Bible discussing female homosexuality.}} Christians who take a conservative position on homosexuality endorse this reading of these passages in the belief that God is against same-sex sexual activity, while Christians who take a liberal position believe that these same passages refer to more specific situations, such as pedophilia,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lehti |first1=Andrew |date=November 2022 |title=The Bible Never Condemned Homosexuality; it Condemned Pedophilia. The Papal Revision and Mandate of Translations of the Bible in the 16th Century by Pope Clement VIII and Pope Paul V. |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365428877 |journal=[[ResearchGate]] |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.29803.62240 |access-date=16 June 2024}}</ref> rape or abuse, and not homosexuality.<ref name=TolerancerefA>{{cite web |title=What the Bible says and means about homosexuality |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/homglance.htm |website=religioustolerance.org |access-date=14 July 2015 |archive-date=29 June 2009 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090629035053/http://www.religioustolerance.org/homglance.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The largest Christian body, the [[Catholic Church]], condemns homosexual acts as "gravely sinful" and "intrinsically disordered".<ref>Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal (Prefect). (1 October 1986). [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html 'Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons']. ''[[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith]]''.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Vatican and homosexuality: reactions to the "Letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care of homosexual persons" |url=https://archive.org/details/vaticanhomosexua00seli |url-access=registration |year=1988 |last1=Gramick |first1=Jeannine |last2=Nugent |first2=Robert |publisher=Crossroad |page=[https://archive.org/details/vaticanhomosexua00seli/page/112 112] |isbn=9780824508647}}</ref> The second-largest Christian body, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], also condemns homosexual behaviour, as do many denominations of [[Protestantism]].

[[Catholic Church and homosexuality|Within the Catholic Church]], the theory of [[natural law]] has been employed by philosophers and theologians to justify its condemnation of homosexual behaviour.<ref>''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' (2nd ed.). [[Libreria Editrice Vaticana]]. 2019. [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P85.HTM#:~:text=2357%20 Paragraph 2357] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724064758/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P85.HTM#:~:text=2357%20 |date=24 July 2013 }}.</ref> The theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] maintained that homosexual practice was contrary to natural law, arguing that the primary natural end of the sexual act was procreation, and since said procreation is carried out from a process of sexual fertilization between a man and a woman, homosexual sex is contrary to the very end of said act.<ref>Blankenhorn, Fr. Bernhard; Droste, Sr. Catherine Joseph; Jindráček, Fr. Efrem; Legge, Fr. Dominic; White, Fr. Thomas Joseph (2015). [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26392514 «Aquinas & Homosexuality. Five Dominicans Respond to Adriano Oliva»] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114165907/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26392514 |date=14 January 2023 }}. ''Angelicum'' '''92''' (3): 297-302. {{ISSN|1123-5772}}.</ref>

=== Islamic opposition ===
{{Further|LGBTQ people and Islam}}
[[Sodomy]] is regarded as criminal and forbidden in most [[Islamic countries]], according to [[Sharia law|''Sharia'' law]], and officially carries the [[Capital punishment in Islam|death penalty]] in [[Saudi Arabia]], [[United Arab Emirates]], [[Iran]], [[Brunei]], [[Mauritania]], [[Nigeria]], and [[Yemen]].<ref>{{cite web |title=World Day Against Death Penalty |url=http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategory=50&ZoneID=7&FileID=1111 |website=ilga.org |publisher=ILGA Files |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029185853/http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategory=50&ZoneID=7&FileID=1111 |archive-date=29 October 2009 |date=10 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Homosexuality and Islam |url=http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/islam.htm |website=religionfacts.com |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415225546/http://www.religionfacts.com/homosexuality/islam.htm |archive-date=15 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

It carries the death penalty in [[Afghanistan]] under the [[Taliban]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reid |first1=Tim |title=Kandahar Comes Out of the Closet |url=http://glapn.org/sodomylaws/world/afghanistan/afnews007.htm |website=sodomylaws.org |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911230539/http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/afghanistan/afnews007.htm |date=12 January 2002 |archive-date=11 September 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Egypt]], openly gay men have been prosecuted under general public morality laws.{{efn|See: [[Cairo 52]].}} On the other hand, homosexuality has been legal in Turkey since 1858.<ref name="History">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25927595 |title=Where is it illegal to be gay? |access-date=11 February 2014 |work=BBC News |date=10 February 2014 |archive-date=1 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601210145/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-25927595 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In Saudi Arabia, the maximum punishment for homosexuality is public execution, but the government will use other punishments – e.g., fines, jail time, and [[flagellation]] – as alternatives, unless it feels that LGBTQ individuals are challenging state authority by engaging in [[LGBTQ social movements]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dahir |first1=Mubarak |title=Is Beheading Really the Punishment for Homosexuality in Saudi Arabia? |url=http://glapn.org/sodomylaws/world/saudi_arabia/saudinews19.htm |website=sodomylaws.org |access-date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030106001332/http://www.sodomylaws.org/world/saudi_arabia/saudinews19.htm |archive-date=6 January 2003 |date=December 2002 |url-status=live}}</ref> Iran is perhaps the nation to execute the largest number of its citizens for homosexuality. Since the 1979 [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic revolution]] in Iran, the Iranian government has executed more than 4,000 people charged with homosexual acts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/homosexuality.html#Islam |title=Homosexuality and Religion |access-date=1 February 2009 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023246/http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/homosexuality.html#Islam |url-status=live}}</ref> Even though homosexuality is widespread amongst the [[Pashtun ethnic group]] in southern Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farmer |first1=Ben |title=Paedophilia 'culturally accepted in south Afghanistan' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8257943/Paedophilia-culturally-accepted-in-south-Afghanistan.html |access-date=6 July 2015 |work=telegraph.co.uk |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=13 January 2011 |location=Kabul |quote=American social scientists employed to help troops understand the local culture reported that homosexual sex was widespread among the Pashtun ethnic group in southern Afghanistan. Strict separation of men and women, coupled with poverty and the significant expense of getting married, contributed to young men turning to each other for sexual companionship. |archive-date=13 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713192159/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/8257943/Paedophilia-culturally-accepted-in-south-Afghanistan.html |url-status=live}}</ref> after the fall of the Taliban, homosexuality went from a capital crime to one that is punished with fines, prison sentences, and [[vigilante]] violence.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}}

Most international human rights organizations, such as [[Human Rights Watch]] and [[Amnesty International]], condemn laws that make homosexual relations between consenting adults a crime. Muslim nations insist that such laws are necessary to preserve Islamic morality and virtue. Of the nations with a majority of Muslim inhabitants where homosexuality is criminalized, only Lebanon and Tunisia have organizations which are trying to get homosexuality legalized.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.helem.net/ |title=Helem English – !EXIST |work=helem.net |access-date=1 February 2009 |archive-date=8 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008072431/http://www.helem.net/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Asian religious opposition ===
{{Further|Homosexuality and Hinduism|Buddhism and sexual orientation|Homosexuality in China}}
Among the [[Indian religions|religions that originated in India]], including [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], [[Jainism]] and [[Sikhism]], teachings regarding homosexuality are less clear than among the Abrahamic traditions. Unlike the Abrahamic religions, homosexuality is not a 'sin' in Hindu philosophy,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hqgRb_Thd_QC&pg=PA199 Wise Teacher, Wise Student: Tibetan Approaches to a Healthy Relationship], Alexander Berzin</ref> while in Buddhism, the Dalai Lama has stated that male-female relationships are intended by nature, though without condemning same-sex relationships.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1993/7/1_7.html |title=A Lesson on Life, Happiness; Anyone Can Achieve It, Says Dalai Lama to Seattle Crowd |author=Canada Tibet Committee |date=1 July 1993 |work=World Tibet Network News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040804014757/http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1993/7/1_7.html |archive-date=4 August 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Gender-specific Temples like Aravan worship are dedicated to celebrate the non-heteronormative diverse Indigenous gender & sexuality in Hinduism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sikhism: beliefs about love and sex |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/relationships/sikhloveandsexrev2.shtml |website=BBC.co.uk |publisher=BBC GCSE Bitesize |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=23 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150323013057/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/relationships/sikhloveandsexrev2.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2005, the Head Cleric of the [[Akal Takht]] condemned same-sex marriages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Homosexuality and Sikhism |url=http://www.gaylaxymag.com/articles/queer-voices/homosexuality-and-sikhism/ |website=gaylaxymag.com |date=26 May 2011 |publisher=GayLaxy |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705135733/http://www.gaylaxymag.com/articles/queer-voices/homosexuality-and-sikhism/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/world-sikh-group-against-gay-marriage-bill-1.536239 World Sikh group against gay marriage bill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807122801/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/world-sikh-group-against-gay-marriage-bill-1.536239 |date=7 August 2015 }}, [[CBC Newsworld|CBC News]], Tuesday, 29 March 2005.</ref> Hinduism is diverse, with no supreme governing body which allows people of diverse [[SOGIESC]] communities to marry under Hindu Marriage Law 1951.<ref name="Live Law">{{cite web |url=https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/transwoman-regarded-as-bride-madras-hc-bans-sex-re-assignment-surgeries-intersex-children-144467 |title="Transwoman A 'Bride' Under Hindu Marriage Act": Madras HC; Also Bans Sex Re-Assignment Surgeries On Intersex Children [Read Judgment] |date=23 April 2019 |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=12 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712083504/https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/transwoman-regarded-as-bride-madras-hc-bans-sex-re-assignment-surgeries-intersex-children-144467 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Discussions on Dharma |url=http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |publisher=Hinduism Today |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929021150/http://www.faithandthecity.org/issues/social/articles/Discussions_on_Dharma%20.shtml |archive-date=29 September 2011 |date=October 2004 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Hinduism: beliefs about love and sex |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/relationships/hiloveandsexrev1.shtml |website=BBC.co.uk |publisher=BBC GCSE Bitesize |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-date=31 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131225017/http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/relationships/hiloveandsexrev1.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Scientology opposition ===
{{Main|Scientology and sexual orientation}}
[[Scientology]] founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]] classified homosexuality as a mental illness and [[paraphilia]] (then known as "sexual perversion"), citing contemporary psychiatric and psychological textbooks to support his view.<ref>"The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in Dynamic II [i.e. sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of [[Havelock Ellis|Ellis]] and [[Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing|Krafft-Ebing]]) is actually quite ill physically...he is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society..." {{cite book |last=Hubbard |title=Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health |pages=122–123 |publisher=Church of Scientology of California |year=1978 |isbn=0-88404-000-3}}</ref> Gay people are designated a 1.1. on Hubbard's [[emotional tone scale]], and Hubbard urged society to tackle the issue of "sexual perversion" (including homosexuality), calling it "of vital importance, if one wishes to stop immorality, and the abuse of children." In his book ''[[Science of Survival]]'', Hubbard called for drastic action to be taken, saying that: "Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized; for here is the level of the contagion of immorality, and the destruction of ethics; here is the fodder which secret police organizations use for their filthy operations."<ref name="sos1">{{cite book |last=Hubbard |title=Science of Survival |pages=[https://archive.org/details/scienceofsurviva00lron_0/page/88 88–90] |publisher=Church of Scientology of California |year=1975 |isbn=0-88404-001-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/scienceofsurviva00lron_0/page/88}} "Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized; for here is the level of the contagion of immorality, and the destruction of ethics; here is the fodder which secret police organizations use for their filthy operations. One of the most effective measures of security that a nation threatened by war could take would be rounding up and placing in a [[cantonment]], away from society, any 1.1 individual who might be connected with government, the military, or essential industry; since here are people who, regardless of any record of their family's loyalty, are potential traitors, the very mode of operation of their insanity being betrayal. In this level is the slime of society, the sex criminals, the political subversives, the people whose apparently rational activities are yet but the devious writhings of secret hate."</ref>

A 2004 article in the ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]'' reported that the Scientology defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.<ref>{{cite news |title=About Scientology |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/18/Tampabay/About_Scientology.shtml |work=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=18 July 2004 <!-- |access-date=2006-09-02 --> |access-date=6 July 2015 |archive-date=8 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708072837/http://www.sptimes.com/2004/07/18/Tampabay/About_Scientology.shtml |url-status=dead |quote=Scientology Positions: Gay marriage - Scientologists recognize marriage as a part of the second of eight dynamics of existence. The second dynamic includes all creative activity, including sex, procreation and child rearing. The Scientology marriage ceremony is traditional and addresses a union between a man and a woman.}}</ref> After 35 years of being a Scientologist, film producer and director [[Paul Haggis]] publicly quit the [[Church of Scientology]] over the organization's position on gay rights and a showdown with the Church's spokesperson over the [[2008 California Proposition 8]] on same-sex marriage.<ref name="wright-apostate">{{cite magazine |last=Wright |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Wright |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/14/the-apostate-lawrence-wright |title=The Apostate : Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=14 February 2011}}</ref>

==Opposition in different countries==
{{Essay-like|section|date=July 2015}}

=== Belarus ===
{{see also|LGBTQ rights in Belarus}}
A 2014 report prepared by the [[United Kingdom]], under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government of 2010–2015, raised concerns about LGBTQ treatment in [[Belarus]]:
{{blockquote|The LGBT community suffered increased harassment from the [Belarusian] regime in 2013. The Ministry of Justice denied registration to LGBT groups, and members of the LGBT community were regularly targeted by the security forces and brought in for questioning. The authorities threatened to stigmatise them by informing their colleagues, families, or friends of their sexual orientation. Gay clubs in Minsk and Vitebsk were raided, and those present were filmed and had their details collected. The clubs were then closed down.

Gay Pride week in Minsk was disrupted by the authorities who forced owners of venues, where events were due to be held, to withdraw at the last minute. Those events that did take place were raided by the police, and a request for a march through the city was turned down by the authorities.|title="LGBT rights", ''Corporate Report: Belarus – Country of Concern''|source=(UK [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]], October 2014)<ref>{{cite web |title=Corporate Report: Belarus – Country of Concern |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/belarus-country-of-concern/belarus-country-of-concerndate=16 |date=October 2014 |website=Gov.uk |publisher=[[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] |access-date=28 May 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}}

=== Georgia ===
On 8 July 2023, over 2,000 anti-LGBTQ+ protesters violently disrupted the LGBTQ+ Pride festival in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Homophobia remains widespread in Georgia, and several journalists were attacked during similar protests in Tbilisi two years ago.<ref>{{cite news |title=Anti-LGBTQ+ protesters break up Pride event in Georgian capital Tbilisi |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/09/anti-lgbtq-protesters-break-up-pride-event-in-georgian-capital-tbilisi |access-date=10 July 2023 |website=the Guardian |date=9 July 2023}}</ref>

=== India ===
{{see also|Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code}}
On 6 October 1860, sodomy was legally forbidden in [[India]] according to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faithology.com/topics/homosexuality-in-hinduism |title=Homosexuality in Hinduism |work=Faithology |access-date=7 July 2015 |archive-date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706134350/http://www.faithology.com/topics/homosexuality-in-hinduism |url-status=live}}</ref> This was ruled unconstitutional in 2009 by the Delhi High Court, but reaffirmed on 11 December 2013 by a Supreme Court ruling.<ref>{{cite news |title=India's Supreme Court turns the clock back with gay sex ban |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-rights-gay-idUSBRE9BA05620131211 |newspaper=[[Reuters]] |date=11 December 2013 |access-date=10 July 2021 |archive-date=16 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216040454/https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-india-rights-gay-idUSBRE9BA05620131211 |url-status=live}}</ref>
It was again legalised by the Supreme Court on 6 September 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/06/india-supreme-court-strikes-down-sodomy-law |title=India: Supreme Court Strikes Down Sodomy Law |date=6 September 2018 |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419100447/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/06/india-supreme-court-strikes-down-sodomy-law |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Indonesia ===
Traditionally, Indonesians are [[Liberal homophobia|quite tolerant towards LGBTQ people who keep quiet and stay discreet about their private lives]].<ref name="DW">{{cite web |url=http://www.dw.de/its-ok-to-be-gay-in-indonesia-so-long-as-you-keep-it-quiet/a-6456222 |title=It's OK to be gay in Indonesia so long as you keep it quiet |last=Gollmer |first=Anggatira |date=2 March 2011 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |access-date=17 March 2016 |archive-date=19 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519034043/http://www.dw.de/its-ok-to-be-gay-in-indonesia-so-long-as-you-keep-it-quiet/a-6456222 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, this level of tolerance is not extended towards the LGBTQ rights movements, which has faced fierce condemnation in the public sphere from Indonesian authorities. A wave of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric began in January 2016 when Higher Education Minister [[Mohamad Nasir]] said LGBTQ people should be barred from university campuses.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |work=Reuters |date=8 March 2016 |title=Under attack, Indonesian LGBT groups set up safehouses, live in fear |author=Alisa Tang |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-gay-rights-idUSKCN0WB02Z |access-date=1 July 2017 |archive-date=28 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035648/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-gay-rights-idUSKCN0WB02Z |url-status=live}}</ref> The Minister called for a ban on gay groups on university campuses after a group of [[University of Indonesia]] (UI) students established a counselling and support group called the Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC).<ref name="Tempo">{{cite news |title=Mahasiswa Beri Konseling LGBT, Begini Respons UI |newspaper=Tempo.co |date=21 January 2016 |url=https://m.tempo.co/read/news/2016/01/21/079738146/mahasiswa-beri-konseling-lgbt-begini-respons-ui |language=id |access-date=5 April 2016 |archive-date=6 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406082616/https://m.tempo.co/read/news/2016/01/21/079738146/mahasiswa-beri-konseling-lgbt-begini-respons-ui |url-status=live}}</ref> The group was meant as a counselling service, resource centre and support group on sexuality and gender issues, especially for LGBTQ youth and students, who often suffer from abuses, harassment, violence and discrimination regarding their gender and sexuality. SGRC sees LGBTQ people as human beings who need a friend and protection. The group, which sought to advocate for those who suffer from gender-based violence, explained that they do not "turn" or "encourage" people to be [[gay]], nor had they tried to "cure" gay people.<ref>{{cite web |date=23 January 2016 |title=Support Group untuk LGBT di UI: Kami Tak Mendorong dan Menyembuhkan Orang dari Gay |author=Wisnu Prasetyo |work=detikNews |url=http://news.detik.com/berita/3125384/support-group-untuk-lgbt-di-ui-kami-tak-mendorong-dan-menyembuhkan-orang-dari-gay |language=id |access-date=5 April 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304015054/https://news.detik.com/berita/3125384/support-group-untuk-lgbt-di-ui-kami-tak-mendorong-dan-menyembuhkan-orang-dari-gay |url-status=live}}</ref> Amid the heat of the issue, the University of Indonesia refused to be held responsible for SGRC's actions and announced the group was not an officially registered student organisation.<ref name="Tempo"/> Another official pressured smartphone instant-messaging services to drop gay and lesbian-themed emoji, prompting one company to comply.<ref name="NYT-1">{{cite news |title=Anti-Gay Actions in Indonesia Threaten a Fragile Population |author=Jeffrey Hutton |date=15 February 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/asia/indonesia-antigay-sentiment.html?_r=0 |access-date=2 March 2017 |archive-date=21 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921103512/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/16/world/asia/indonesia-antigay-sentiment.html?_r=0 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Muhammadiyah]], said it would not issue any edict condemning members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Muhammadiyah's secretary-general, Abdul Mukti said. Muhammadiyah considered LGBTQ expression immoral, but that publicly condemning people affiliated with those identities and orientations would not help them return to normalcy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/11/national-scene-muhammadiyah-takes-soft-approach-lgbt.html |title=National scene: Muhammadiyah takes soft approach on LGBT - the Jakarta Post}}</ref> Other religious groups, such as [[Christianity]] and specifically [[Roman Catholicism]], have expressed their rejection of LGBTQ rights in Indonesia. Indonesian Catholic authorities have reiterated that Catholicism does not recognise [[same-sex marriage]] but assured that, despite their perceived transgressions, LGBTQ people should be protected and not harmed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sikap Gereja Katolik terhadap isu LGBT |date=19 February 2016 |work=UCAN Indonesia |url=http://indonesia.ucanews.com/2016/02/19/sikap-gereja-katolik-terhadap-isu-lgbt/ |language=id |access-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914192901/http://indonesia.ucanews.com/2016/02/19/sikap-gereja-katolik-terhadap-isu-lgbt |archive-date=14 September 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Indonesia Psychiatric Association (PDSKJI) classifies homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism as [[mental disorders]]. Referring to ''Law No.18/2014 on Mental Health'' and the association's Mental Health and Mental Disorder Diagnostic Guidelines, the PDSKJI categorises homosexual and bisexual Indonesians as "people with psychiatric problems" and transgender people as having "mental disorders".<ref>{{cite news |title=Indonesian psychiatrists label LGBT as mental disorders |author=Liza Yosephine |newspaper=The Jakarta Post |location=Jakarta |date=24 February 2016 |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/24/indonesian-psychiatrists-label-lgbt-mental-disorders.html |access-date=17 March 2016 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104072735/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/02/24/indonesian-psychiatrists-label-lgbt-mental-disorders.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Some military figures have used conspiracy theory rhetoric. Defense Minister [[Ryamizard Ryacudu]] called the LGBTQ movement a "[[proxy war]]" to [[brainwash]] Indonesians, and claimed that it received "foreign funding",<ref name="Reuters"/> pointing to funds from [[United Nations]] organisations like [[UNAIDS]] or Western governments and foundations.

There have been a few incidents of LGBTQ people being harassed. LGBTQ groups are now working on setting up safe houses and draw up evacuation plans in case of need. In [[Yogyakarta]], in February 2016, 23 LGBTQ activists were roughed up by police, who told local media they stopped them from holding a rally to avoid a clash with a hardline Muslim group holding an anti-LGBTQ protest nearby.<ref name="Reuters"/>

The chair of the [[People's Consultative Assembly]], [[Zulkifli Hasan]] mentioned in a statement that, "As a movement, the existence of LGBTQ must be opposed. We must limit its room to move. However, as individual people, they must be protected like any other citizen."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nurbianto |first=Bambang |date=21 March 2016 |title=More political leaders speak out against LGBT |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/more-political-leaders-speak-out-against-lgbt.html |access-date=20 January 2022 |website=The Jakarta Post |language=en |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305112826/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/more-political-leaders-speak-out-against-lgbt.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Anthropologist Sharyn Graham Davies commented that the main focus of this opposition was that sexual and gender diversity may be tolerated but as long as LGBTQ people remain invisible in the Indonesian society and did not form a visible movement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davies |first=Sharyn Graham |date=15 July 2016 |title=Indonesia's anti-LGBT panic |url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/07/15/indonesias-anti-lgbt-panic/ |access-date=20 January 2022 |website=East Asia Forum |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=8–11 |language=en |archive-date=15 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160715013928/http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/07/15/indonesias-anti-lgbt-panic/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Sharyn Graham |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3662300386/GVRL?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=ec358872 |title=Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History |publisher=Gale eBooks |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-684-32554-5 |pages=1717–1720 |language=en |chapter=Waria |access-date=20 January 2022 |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527055937/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&u=wikipedia&id=GALE%7CCX3662300386&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-GVRL&asid=ec358872 |url-status=live}}</ref> On the other hand, amid fierce hostilities, some officials – including former [[Governor of Jakarta]], [[Basuki Tjahaja Purnama]] and former Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister [[Luhut Binsar Panjaitan]] — have defended the LGBTQ community. "Whoever they are, wherever they work, he or she continues to be an Indonesian citizen. They have the right to be protected as well," Panjaitan said.<ref name="Reuters"/> President [[Joko Widodo]] has also expressed support for LGBTQ rights and has called on an end to discrimination.<ref name="joko">{{cite web |title=Indonesia's President Finally Speaks Out Against Worsening Anti-LGBT Discrimination |work=TIME.com |date=20 October 2016 |url=http://time.com/4537925/indonesias-president-finally-speaks-out-against-worsening-anti-lgbt-discrimination |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=28 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228173221/http://time.com/4537925/indonesias-president-finally-speaks-out-against-worsening-anti-lgbt-discrimination/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Malaysia ===
Same-sex relationships in Malaysia are [[LGBTQ rights in Malaysia|criminalised]]. In 2018, Malaysian LGBTQ people faced government-enforced clampdowns.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2160781/mahathirs-malaysia-accused-state-sponsored-homophobia-after |title=Mahathir's Malaysia accused of 'state-sponsored homophobia' |date=22 August 2018 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085835/https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2160781/mahathirs-malaysia-accused-state-sponsored-homophobia-after |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Poland ===
{{see also|LGBT-free zone}}

Opposition to [[LGBTQ rights in Poland]] comes mainly from right-wing politics, such as the ruling in 2015-2023 [[Law and Justice (Poland)|Law and Justice]] party, and from the [[Catholic Church in Poland]], in which a majority of Poles are members. According to [[ILGA-Europe]]'s 2020 report, Poland ranks the lowest of European Union countries for LGBTQ rights. According to some opinion polls, opposition to LGBTQ rights has been diminishing, with support for [[civil partnerships]] rising from 52% in 2017 to 60% in 2019. The number of Poles who say that homosexuality should not be accepted in society dropped from 41% in 2001 to 24% in 2019.<ref>{{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=23 August 2020 |work=Notes From Poland |date=17 June 2020 |archive-date=15 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815154500/https://notesfrompoland.com/2020/06/17/polands-anti-lgbt-campaign-explained-ten-questions-and-answers/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Unrest feared as Poland Catholic church doubles down on anti-gay rhetoric |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/unrest-feared-poland-catholic-church-doubles-down-anti-gay-rhetoric-n1038656 |access-date=23 August 2020 |work=NBC News |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=2 August 2020 |language=en |archive-date=12 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812001914/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/unrest-feared-poland-catholic-church-doubles-down-anti-gay-rhetoric-n1038656 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Russia ===
{{see also|LGBTQ rights in Russia}}
[[File:Moscow opposition rally 2 March 2013, LGBT activists.JPG|thumb|190px|LGBTQ activists in Moscow, 2 March 2013]]
Opposition to the LGBTQ rights movement is very prevalent in [[Russia]], including within the [[Kremlin]]. President [[Vladimir Putin]] enacted laws in 2012 which criminalised education about LGBTQ issues, calling it "[[gay propaganda]]". It banned telling minors that homosexuality was normal or natural.<ref name=Vice>{{cite web |title=Young and Gay in Putin's Russia – Full Length |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/young-and-gay-in-putins-russia-full-length-vice/ |website=VICE.com |date=18 January 2014 |publisher=VICE News |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031181357/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xdwpvk/young-and-gay-in-putins-russia-full-length-vice |url-status=live}}</ref> This was opposed by some nations with many members of the public in the U.S. and Western Europe calling for a [[boycott]] of the [[2014 Winter Olympics]] in [[Sochi]]. However, President Putin assured that all athletes would be respected, regardless of their sexuality<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brydum |first1=Sunnivie |title=Putin Promises Gay Olympians Will Be "Comfortable" in Sochi |url=http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/10/28/putin-promises-gay-olympians-will-be-comfortable-sochi |access-date=6 April 2015 |publisher=The Advocate |date=28 October 2013 |archive-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150331032652/http://www.advocate.com/news/world-news/2013/10/28/putin-promises-gay-olympians-will-be-comfortable-sochi |url-status=live}}</ref> and in the event, no boycott occurred.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Caldwell |first1=Christopher |title=Why the west has not boycotted the Sochi Olympics |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ac73f5c6-69ac-11e3-aba3-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3WXeP80vV |website=FT.com |publisher=The Financial Times |access-date=6 April 2015 |archive-date=25 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925102128/https://www.ft.com/content/ac73f5c6-69ac-11e3-aba3-00144feabdc0#axzz3WXeP80vV |url-status=live}}</ref>

The law passed has been described as taking Russia's LGBTQ community "from being a stigmatized fringe group to full-blown [[Enemy of the people#Soviet Union|enemies of the state]]", and has been described as a major contributor to a wave of anti-gay violence by several [[neo-Nazi]] organisations (such as ''[[Occupy Paedophilia]]''), which target gay teens online and meet up with them, posting on YouTube their acts of assault against the LGBTQ teens, which have even resulted in the death of several LGBTQ teens in Russia, which are rarely investigated by the authorities, defining them as "civil movements fighting the sins of society".<ref name=Vice/>

===Sweden===
Sweden has seen increased opposition to LGBTQ rights through [[anti-gender]] campaigns. Scholars have documented how Sweden, despite its reputation as a gender-equal country, is increasingly affected by what has been termed "insidious [[de-democratization]]," a process in which small but cumulative political and discursive shifts erode [[Liberal democracy|liberal democratic]] norms by marginalizing already vulnerable groups such as trans people.<ref name="Karlberg">{{cite journal |last1=Karlberg |first1=Eva |last2=Korolczuk |first2=Elżbieta |last3=Sältenberg |first3=Hansalbin |title=Insidious de-democratization: Conceptualizing anti-gender politics in Sweden |journal=[[Journal of Gender Studies]] |date=2025 |volume=34 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/09589236.2024.2446345}}</ref>

Anti-LGBTQ and anti-gender rhetoric in Sweden is promoted by a range of actors, including the far-right [[Sweden Democrats]] and [[Christian Democrats (Sweden)|Christian Democrats]], who have opposed legal reforms strengthening transgender rights.<ref name="Grahn"/> These parties frame their opposition in terms of protecting women’s rights and Swedish values. At the same time, anti-gender views have also gained ground among some radical feminist groups that identify as “[[gender-critical]].” One prominent example is the [[Swedish Women's Lobby]] (SWL), which in recent years has been criticized by scholars and civil society groups for adopting trans-exclusionary positions.<ref name="Alm">{{cite journal |last1=Alm |first1=Erika |last2=Engebretsen |first2=Elisabeth Lund |title=Gender Self-identification |journal=[[Lambda Nordica]]|date=2020 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=48–56 |doi=10.34041/ln.v25.613}}</ref><ref name="Grahn">{{cite journal |last1=Grahn |first1=Michal |last2=Holm |first2=Malin |title=Trans inclusive no more? Allies and adversaries of gender self-identification in Sweden |journal=European Journal of Politics and Gender |date=2025 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=234–241 |doi=10.1332/25151088Y2024D000000052}}</ref><ref name="Karlberg"/> In 2025, SWL launched the Women’s Platform for Action International (WoPAI), an international network promoting "[[sex-based rights]]" and opposing what it calls a "pro-gender movement", a "[[queer agenda]]" and the concept of [[gender identity]].<ref name="who">{{cite web | url=https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/why-wopai-is-needed/ | title=Why WoPAI is needed | date=5 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250220151317/https://www.womensplatformforaction.org/why-wopai-is-needed/|publisher=Women's Platform for Action International (WoPAI)|archive-date=2025-02-20}}</ref>

The increasing normalization of anti-gender discourse has also coincided with growing political violence and intimidation, particularly directed at trans advocates. This includes online harassment, threats, and public vilification. Researchers argue that such violence, both symbolic and physical, plays a central role in silencing dissent and undermining democratic participation.<ref name="Karlberg"/>

=== United Kingdom ===
{{see also|LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom|LGBTQ rights in Scotland}}
In 1988, the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], who were [[Premiership of Margaret Thatcher|in government at the time]], enacted [[Section 28]] which stated that [[Local government in the United Kingdom|local authorities]] must not "intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality"  and that [[maintained school]]s should not "promote the teaching [...] of the acceptability of homosexuality", describing families with gay parents as being in a "pretended family relationship".<ref>[http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880009_en_5.htm Local Government Act 1988 (c. 9)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122112358/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880009_en_5.htm |date=22 November 2005 }}, section 28. Accessed 18 January 2015 on opsi.gov.uk.</ref> Research on the effect of suppressing information about sexuality awareness in schools showed a correspondence with increases in the level of homophobic bullying by peers, as well as increased incidence in depression and suicide amongst LGBTQ people trying to come to terms with their sexuality.<ref name = EPSTEIN>{{Cite book |last1=Epstein |first1=Debbie |last2=O'Flynn |first2=Sarah |last3=Telford |first3=David |title=Silenced Sexualities in Schools and Universities |publisher=Trentham Books |year=2003}}</ref> In 1987, Thatcher also declared that "hard left education authorities and extremist teachers" were indoctrinating the nation by teaching the younger generation "political slogans", "anti-racist mathematics" and telling their pupils that they have an "inalienable right to be gay", rather than "taught to respect traditional moral values".<ref name=MTFoundation/> She then went on to say that "all of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life—yes cheated!"<ref name=MTFoundation>{{cite web |title=Speech to Conservative Party Conference, 1987 Oct 9 |url=http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106941 |website=margaretthatcher.org |publisher=Margaret Thatcher Foundation |access-date=18 January 2015 |archive-date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226213338/https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106941 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, despite opposition from socially liberal Conservatives such as later prime minister [[David Cameron]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/cameron+toff+at+the+top/328047.html |title=Cameron: Toff At The Top |work=channel4.com |access-date=29 June 2020 |archive-date=30 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630090956/https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/cameron+toff+at+the+top/328047.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Section 28 was repealed by the [[Second Blair ministry|Labour government]] under [[Tony Blair]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Scott |title=Ian McKellen: 'Margaret Thatcher misjudged the future with Section 28' |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/04/16/ian-mckellen-margaret-thatcher-misjudged-the-future-with-section-28/ |website=pinknews.co.uk |date=16 April 2013 |publisher=[[Pink News]] |access-date=18 January 2015 |quote=Section 28 was later removed from the statute book by Tony Blair's Labour government in 2003. |archive-date=14 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214072829/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/04/16/ian-mckellen-margaret-thatcher-misjudged-the-future-with-section-28/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In June 2009, Cameron, whilst campaigning for the 2010 general election, formally apologised for his party introducing the law, stating that it was a mistake and had been offensive to gay people.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-sorry-for-section-28-1728003.html |title=Cameron sorry for Section 28 |work=The Independent |date=22 October 2011 |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812040934/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cameron-sorry-for-section-28-1728003.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pierce |first1=Andrew |title=David Cameron says sorry over Section 28 gay law |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/5710650/David-Cameron-says-sorry-over-Section-28-gay-law.html |website=Telegraph.co.uk |date=July 2009 |publisher=The Telegraph |access-date=14 February 2015 |archive-date=31 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731111026/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/5710650/David-Cameron-says-sorry-over-Section-28-gay-law.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013|same-sex marriage]] was legalised under Cameron's premiership (despite his government voting against it)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2012-2013/0126/cbill_2012-20130126_en_1.htm |title=Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill |publisher=House of Commons |date=25 January 2013 |access-date=28 January 2013 |archive-date=28 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128053604/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2012-2013/0126/cbill_2012-20130126_en_1.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> which Cameron described as "an important step forward" and said that he thought that "it is right that gay people should be able to get married too".<ref>{{cite web |title=Gay marriage an important step forward, says PM |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21325702 |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 February 2015 |date=5 February 2013 |archive-date=19 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619085836/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21325702 |url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2010, the largest voice against LGBTQ equality in the UK came from the [[Church of England]] over the issue of same-sex marriage. Labour passed into law in 2005 the ability for same-sex couples to enter civil partnerships, but they could not take place in a church or be called a "marriage". The Church of England opposed the-then coalition Government's plans (this government came to an end in May 2015) to extend this to "full marriage rights."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8221964/Coalition-ministers-consider-gay-marriage-plans.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226234838/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8221964/Coalition-ministers-consider-gay-marriage-plans.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 December 2010 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph |first=Tim |last=Ross |title=Coalition ministers consider gay marriage plans |date=24 December 2010}}</ref>

The [[British National Party]] has shifted its platform from recriminalisation to an extension of [[section 28]]-style legislation, i.e. making it illegal to portray homosexuality positively in the media.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,783675,00.html |title=Andrew Anthony meets Nick Griffin – From the Observer – The Observer |author=Andrew Anthony |work=The Guardian |date=September 2002 |access-date=29 April 2007 |archive-date=15 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015165934/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,783675,00.html |url-status=live}}</ref>  In 1999, the [[Admiral Duncan pub]], a gay bar in [[London]]'s [[Soho]], was targeted up as part of a terrorist campaign by a former [[National Socialist Movement (United Kingdom)|National Socialist Movement]] and [[British National Party]] (BNP) member, [[David Copeland]]; three people were killed, and seventy maimed or injured by a nail bomb detonated in the pub.<ref name = DUNCAN>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2499000/2499249.stm |work=BBC News |title=1999: Dozens injured in Soho nail bomb |date=30 April 1999 |access-date=7 May 2010 |archive-date=11 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211204018/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2499000/2499249.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>

===United States===

==== History ====
{{main|LGBTQ history in the United States}}

===== 1950s and 1960s =====
{{see also|Stonewall riots#Background}}
[[File:McCarthy Cohn.jpg|thumb|[[Joseph McCarthy]] and [[Roy Cohn]], leaders of the [[Lavender scare]]]]
In the 1950s in the [[United States]], open homosexuality was taboo. Legislatures in every state had passed laws against homosexual behavior well before this, most notably [[Sodomy laws in the United States|anti-sodomy laws]]. During the [[Cold War]] politicians frequently described homosexuals as "subversives" who undermined national security and patriotism, and described them as [[Fellow traveller|Communist sympathisers]] or a Communist [[Fifth column]]. During the [[Lavender Scare]], [[Joseph McCarthy]] used accusations of homosexuality as a [[smear tactic]].<ref>Cuordileone, K. A. "'Politics in an Age of Anxiety': Cold War Political Culture and the Crisis in American Masculinity, 1949–1960" ''The Journal of American History'' 87 (2) (2000): 515–545</ref> Senator [[Kenneth S. Wherry|Kenneth Wherry]] publicized fears that [[Joseph Stalin]] had obtained a list of closeted homosexuals in positions of power from [[Adolf Hitler]], which he believed Stalin intended to use to blackmail these men into working against the U.S. for the Soviet regime.<ref>Von Hoffman, Nicholas, ''Citizen Cohn'' Doubleday, 1988, pp 130</ref> In the [[Hoey Report|1950 report]] produced by a Senate subcommittee titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government" said that "the pervert is easy prey to the blackmailer... It is an accepted fact among intelligence agencies that espionage organizations the world over consider sex perverts who are in possession of or have access to confidential material to be prime targets where pressure can be exerted." Along with that security-based concern, the report found homosexuals unsuitable for government employment because "those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons. In addition, there is an abundance of evidence to sustain the conclusion that indulgence in acts of sex perversion weakens the moral fiber of an individual to a degree that he is not suitable for a position of responsibility."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/context/employment.html |title=Who's Gay? What's Straight? – Employment Of Homosexuals And Other Sex Perverts In Government (1950) – Assault On Gay America – FRONTLINE – PBS |work=pbs.org |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616210211/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/context/employment.html |url-status=live}}</ref> McCarthy and [[Roy Cohn]] more often used the secrets of closeted gay American politicians as tools for blackmail than did foreign powers.<ref>Von Hoffman, Nicholas, ''Citizen Cohn'' Doubleday, 1988</ref>

The modern roots of the [[Christian right]]'s views on sexual matters were evident in the years 1950s–1960s, a period in which many [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[Christianity in the United States|Christians in the United States]] viewed sexual promiscuity as not only excessive, but in fact as a threat to their ideal vision of the country.<ref name="Herman">{{cite book |last=Herman |first=Didi |url=https://archive.org/details/antigayagendaort00herm |title=The Antigay Agenda: Orthodox Vision and the Christian Right |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-226-32764-8 |location=Chicago, IL |url-access=registration |access-date=20 September 2012}}</ref>{{rp|30}}

===== 1970s and 1980s =====
[[File:Save Our Children From Homosexuality Brochure.jpg|thumb|upright|Brochure used by Save Our Children in 1977]]
Beginning in the 1970s, conservative Christian protests against promiscuity began to surface, largely as a reaction to the "[[Sexual revolution in 1960s United States|permissive Sixties]]" and an emerging prominence of sexual rights arising from ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' and the [[LGBTQ rights movement]]. The Christian right proceeded to make sexuality issues a priority political cause.<ref name=Herman />{{rp|28}} [[Anita Bryant]] organized [[Save Our Children]], a widespread campaign to oppose legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of [[sexual orientation]] in [[Miami-Dade County, Florida]].<ref name="Fetner 2001"/> The group argued that gay people were "[[Homosexual recruitment|recruiting]]" or "[[Homosexuality and pedophilia|molesting children]]" in order to make them gay.<ref name="Fetner 2001"/> Bryant infamously claimed that "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children," and also claimed that "If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with St. Bernards and to nail biters."<ref name="At Any Cost">{{cite book |title=At Any Cost |url=https://archive.org/details/atanycost0000brya |url-access=registration |last=Bryant |first=Anita |author2=Green, Bob |year=1978 |publisher=Fleming H. Revell |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan, US |isbn=9780800709402}}</ref> The Bryant campaign achieved success in repealing some city anti-discrimination laws, and proposed other citizen initiatives such as a [[Briggs Initiative|failed California ballot question]] designed to ban gay people or those who supported LGBTQ rights from holding public teaching jobs. Bryant's campaign attracted widespread opposition and [[boycott]]s which put her out of business and destroyed her reputation.

From the late 1970s onwards, some [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[Christianity in the United States|Christian organizations]] such as the [[Christian Broadcasting Network]], [[Focus on the Family]], [[Concerned Women for America]], the [[American Family Association]], and the [[Christian Coalition of America]], along with right-wing Christian hate groups such as the [[Westboro Baptist Church]], have been outspoken against LGBTQ rights.<ref name="Gannon 1981"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Miller 2014">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Steven P. |year=2014 |title=The Age of Evangelicalism: America's Born-Again Years |chapter=Left, Right, Born Again |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWLwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777952.003.0003 |pages=32–59 |isbn=9780199777952 |lccn=2013037929 |oclc=881502753 |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416153432/https://books.google.com/books?id=cWLwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Durham 2000">{{cite book |last=Durham |first=Martin |year=2000 |chapter=The rise of the right |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ual1NR2WPasC&pg=PA1 |title=The Christian Right, the Far Right, and the Boundaries of American Conservatism |location=[[Manchester]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |pages=1–23 |isbn=9780719054860 |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416153442/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ual1NR2WPasC&pg=PA1 |url-status=live}}</ref> Late in 1979, a [[Fourth Great Awakening|new religious revival]] among conservative [[Evangelicalism in the United States|Evangelical Protestants]] and [[Catholic Church in the United States|Roman Catholics]] ushered in the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican coalition]] politically aligned with the [[Christian right]] that would reign in the United States between the years 1970s and 1980s, becoming another obstacle for the progress of the [[LGBTQ rights movement]].<ref name="Gannon 1981"/><ref name="McKeegan 1993"/><ref name="Miller 2014"/><ref name="Durham 2000"/>

During the [[HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States|HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s]], LGBTQ communities were further [[Stigmatization|stigmatized]] as they became the focus of [[mass hysteria]], suffered [[Social isolation|isolation]] and [[Social exclusion|marginalization]], and were targeted with [[Violence against LGBTQ people|extreme acts of violence]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Westengard |first=Laura |year=2019 |chapter=Monstrosity: Melancholia, Cannibalism, and HIV/AIDS |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5unDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |title=Gothic Queer Culture: Marginalized Communities and the Ghosts of Insidious Trauma |location=[[Lincoln, Nebraska]] |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |pages=99–103 |isbn=978-1-4962-0204-8 |lccn=2018057900 |access-date=7 July 2022 |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416153435/https://books.google.com/books?id=b5unDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Christian right champions itself as the "self-appointed conscience of American society". During the 1980s, the movement was largely dismissed by political pundits and mainstream religious leaders as "a collection of buffoonish has-beens". Later, it re-emerged, better organized and more focused, taking firm positions against abortion, pornography, sexual deviancy, and extreme feminism.<ref name=Kaplan>{{cite journal |last=Kaplan |first=George R. |title=Shotgun Wedding: Notes on Public Education's Encounter with the New Christian Right |journal=Phi Delta Kappan |date=May 1994 |volume=75 |issue=9}}</ref><ref name=Green>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Hohn |title=THE VALUES CAMPAIGN? The Christian Right and the 2004 Elections |year=2006 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-1589011083 |editor=Green, John C. |editor2=Rozell, Mark J. |editor3=Wilcox, Clyde<!-- |access-date=September 20, 2012-->}}</ref>{{rp|4}}

===== 1990s and 2000s =====
[[File:WBC protest.jpg|thumb|[[Westboro Baptist Church]] protest in 2005]]

Influential Christian right organizations were at the forefront of the anti-gay rights movement in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s, including Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, and the [[Family Research Institute]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Draper |first1=Electa |title=Focus on the Family focuses on homosexuals |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2008/10/22/focus-on-the-family-focuses-on-homosexuals/ |website=Denver Post |date=22 October 2008 |access-date=7 June 2023}}</ref><ref name=Herman />{{rp|15–16}} An important stratagem in Christian right anti-gay politics is in its rejection of "the edicts of a Big Brother" state, allowing it to profit from "a general feeling of discontent and demoralization with government". As a result, the Christian right has endorsed smaller government, restricting its ability to arbitrate in disputes regarding values and traditions. In this context, gay rights laws have come to symbolize the government's allegedly unconstitutional "[interference] with individual freedom".<ref name=Herman />{{rp|170–171}}

The central tenets of Focus on the Family and similar organizations, such as the Family Research Council, emphasise issues such as abortion and the necessity of gender roles. A number of organizations, including the New Christian Right, "have in various ways rejected liberal America in favor of the regulation of pornography, anti-abortion legislation, the criminalization of homosexuality, and the virtues of faithfulness and loyalty in sexual partnerships", according to sociologist [[Bryan S. Turner|Bryan Turner]].<ref name=Petersen>{{cite journal |last=Petersen |first=David L. |title=Genesis and Family Values |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |year=2005 |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=5–23 |doi=10.2307/30040988 |jstor=30040988}}</ref>

===== 2010s and 2020s =====
{{Main|2020s anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States}}

[[File:20-11-2019. 500.000+ signatures against LGTB in Disney. Orlando.jpg|thumb|right|Men protesting outside [[Disney World]] in 2020 with a sign reading, "Save Our Kids from LGBT Indoctrination."]]

During the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|presidency of Donald Trump]], some Christian conservatives refrained from engaging in debates about sexual morality.<ref>Douthat, Ross, et al.  [http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gabfest/2018/02/the_florida_shooting_white_house_job_shake_ups_and_porn_on_the_political.html "The 'Let's Just Ban Everything' Edition"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230000556/http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/gabfest/2018/02/the_florida_shooting_white_house_job_shake_ups_and_porn_on_the_political.html |date=30 December 2018 }} ''Political Gabfest''. Slate, 15 February 2018. ''Slate''. Start listening at 37:00.</ref> However, beginning in the early-2020s, an [[2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States|anti-LGBTQ movement]] occurred in the United States, heavily focused on transgender Americans. This [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[Backlash (sociology)|political backlash]] against [[LGBTQ rights in the United States|LGBTQ rights]] included [[Bathroom bill|bathroom use restrictions]], [[Transgender rights in the United States|bans on gender transition]], [[Anti-LGBTQ curriculum laws in the United States|"don't say gay" laws]], [[Drag panic|laws against drag performance]]s, [[2021–2022 book banning in the United States|book bans]], [[boycott]]s, and [[LGBTQ grooming conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories around grooming]].<ref>{{cite news |title=America's far right is increasingly protesting against LGBT people |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/01/13/americas-far-right-is-increasingly-protesting-against-lgbt-people |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=24 May 2023 |archive-date=24 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524065520/https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2023/01/13/americas-far-right-is-increasingly-protesting-against-lgbt-people |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== U.S. public opinion ====
{{see also|Public opinion of same-sex marriage in the United States}}
Public opinion has shifted towards increased acceptance of homosexuality and equal rights for gays and lesbians since the late 1970s. According to the Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who think that same-sex relations between consenting adults should be legal increased from 43% in 1977 to 59% in 2007.<ref name="gallup07">{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/27694/Tolerance-Gay-Rights-HighWater-Mark.aspx |title=Tolerance for Gay Rights at High-Water Mark |author=Gallup, Inc. |work=Gallup.com |date=29 May 2007 |access-date=19 November 2008 |archive-date=9 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109102649/http://www.gallup.com/poll/27694/Tolerance-Gay-Rights-HighWater-Mark.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1977, 56% of Americans thought that gay people should have equal rights in terms of job opportunities. {{as of|2007}}, that number has risen to 89%.<ref name=gallup07 /> In 1982, 34% thought that homosexuality should be considered "an acceptable alternative lifestyle". {{as of|2007}}, that number is 54%.<ref name="gallup07" /> In 1997, 27% of Americans thought that [[same-sex marriage]]s should be legally valid. That number is 46% {{as of|2007|lc=y}}. In 1977, 13% of Americans thought that sexual orientation is "something a person is born with"; {{as of|2007|lc=y}}, that percentage increased to 42%.<ref name=gallup07 /> A poll conducted in 2013 showed a record high of 58% of the Americans supporting legal recognition for same-sex marriage.<ref>{{cite web |author=Kludt, Tom |url=http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/poll-new-high-of-58-percent-support-same |title=Poll:New High Of 58 Percent Support Same-Sex Marriage |publisher=livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com |date=18 March 2013 |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-date=21 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321022813/http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/poll-new-high-of-58-percent-support-same |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/gay-marriage-support-hits-new-high-in-post-abc-poll/ |title=Gay marriage support hits new high in Post-ABC poll |newspaper=washingtonpost.com |date=18 March 2013 |access-date=11 April 2013 |archive-date=27 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327233137/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/18/gay-marriage-support-hits-new-high-in-post-abc-poll/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2015, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 61% of Americans supported same-sex marriage and a similar share were against state-by-state legalization.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/poll-gay-marriage-support-at-record-high/2015/04/22/f6548332-e92a-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html |title=Poll: Gay-marriage support at record high |newspaper=washingtonpost.com |date=23 April 2015 |access-date=24 May 2015 |archive-date=26 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526171438/http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/poll-gay-marriage-support-at-record-high/2015/04/22/f6548332-e92a-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Numerous studies have investigated the prevalence of acceptance and disapproval of homosexuality and have consistently found correlations with various demographic, psychological, and social variables. For example, studies (mainly conducted in the United States) have found that heterosexuals with positive attitudes towards homosexuality are more likely to be non-religious, politically liberal or moderate, young, female and have close personal contact with [[coming out|openly]] gay men and lesbians.{{efn|Studies finding that heterosexual men usually exhibit more hostile attitudes toward gay men and lesbians than heterosexual women:
*Herek, G. M. (1994). ''Assessing heterosexuals' attitudes toward lesbians and gay men.'' In "B. Greene and G.M. Herek (Eds.) Psychological perspectives on lesbian and gay issues: Vol. 1 Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications." Thousands Oaks, Ca: Sage.
*Kite, M.E. (1984). ''Sex differences in attitudes toward homosexuals: A meta-analytic review.'' Journal of Homosexuality, 10 (1–2), 69–81.
*Morin, S., & Garfinkle, E. (1978). ''Male homophobia.'' Journal of Social Issues, 34 (1), 29–47.
*Thompson, E., Grisanti, C., & Pleck, J. (1985). ''Attitudes toward the male role and their correlates.'' Sex Roles, 13 (7/8), 413–427.
For other correlates, see:
*Larson et al. (1980) ''Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Homosexuality'', The Journal of Sex Research, 16, 245–257
*Herek, G. (1988), ''Heterosexuals' Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men'', ''[[Journal of Sex Research]]'', 25, 451–477
*Kite, M.E., & Deaux, K., 1986. ''Attitudes toward homosexuality: Assessment and behavioral consequences. Basic and Applied Social Psychology,'' 7, 137–162
*Haddock, G., Zanna, M. P., & Esses, V. M. (1993). ''Assessing the structure of prejudicial attitudes: The case of attitudes toward homosexuals.'' Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1105–1118.
See also: Lewis, Gregory B., ''Black-White Differences in Attitudes toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights,'' Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 67, Number 1, Pp. 59–78 They are also more likely to have positive attitudes towards other minority groups}}<ref>Herek, G.M. (1991). ''Stigma, prejudice, and violence against lesbians and gay men.'' In: J. Gonsiorek & J. Weinrich (Eds.), "Homosexuality: Research implications for public policy" (pp. 60–80). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.</ref> and are less likely to support traditional gender roles.<ref>Kyes, K.B. & Tumbelaka, L. (1994). ''Comparison of Indonesian and American college students' attitudes toward homosexuality.'' Psychological Reports, 74, 227–237.</ref>

==== United States Armed Forces ====
{{Main|Don't ask, don't tell}}

Homosexual activity was a reason for expulsion from the United States Armed Forces from their very beginning, although that was not codified until 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/USA0103.pdf |title=Uniform Discrimination: The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy of the U.S. Military |date=2003 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205150317/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/USA0103.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The "[[Don't ask, don't tell]]" (DADT) policy that began in 1994 barred the military from questioning people about their sexual orientation, but maintained the barring of service members who had [[coming out|come out]]. The barring of homosexuals was removed altogether in December 2010 by President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Study: Military gays don't undermine unit |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25575198 |access-date=5 July 2015 |work=NBC News |publisher=Associated Press |date=7 July 2008 |archive-date=1 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601101555/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/25575198/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Even before [[Don't ask, don't tell#Origin|DADT was established]], advocates for allowing gay people to [[Sexual orientation and military service|openly serve]] pointed out that neither [[unit cohesion]] nor morale were affected when the [[United Kingdom|UK]] admitted gay people into the military. A similar comparison has been made to the lack of negative consequences when African-Americans and women were admitted into the military.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/out_in_force.html |title=Out In Force |work=ucdavis.edu |access-date=19 November 2008 |archive-date=12 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012215147/http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/Rainbow/html/out_in_force.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Boy Scouts of America ====

The [[Boy Scouts of America]] now accepts gay and bisexual people in its organizations. Previously, there was an exclusion enforced commonly for Scoutmasters, but also for scouts in leadership positions. Their rationale was that homosexuality is immoral and that Scouts are expected to have certain [[moral]] standards and values, as the [[Scout Oath]] and [[Scout Law]] requires boys to be "morally straight".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/BoyScouts.aspx |title=Boy Scouts |publisher=Scouting.org |access-date=21 August 2013 |archive-date=24 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524194043/http://www.scouting.org/BoyScouts.aspx |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Boy Scout organization did not view their policy as unjustly [[discriminatory]], but instead defends their policy saying that, "Tolerance for diversity of values does not require abdication of one's own values".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/media/positions/unitedway.html |title=Position statements: United Way |author=The Boy Scouts of America |work=scouting.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021016025135/http://www.scouting.org/media/positions/unitedway.html |archive-date=16 October 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2000 the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruled in [[Boy Scouts of America v. Dale]] that the Boy Scouts of America is a [[Club (organization)|private organization]], and as such can decide its own membership rules.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2000/LAW/06/28/scotus.gay.boyscouts/ |title=Supreme Court says Boy Scouts can bar gay troop leaders |work=CNN |access-date=29 June 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128184911/http://edition.cnn.com/2000/LAW/06/28/scotus.gay.boyscouts/ |url-status=live}}</ref> There is still a movement to try to persuade the organization to change its policy or allow local chapters to decide for themselves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scoutingforall.org/data/layer02/mission.html |title=Scouting for All: Committed to Scouting, Open to Diversity. Working to end discrimination against gays, atheists, agnostics, other non-theists, and all other groups in the Boy Scouts of America. |work=scoutingforall.org |access-date=21 March 2009 |archive-date=15 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315042258/http://www.scoutingforall.org/data/layer02/mission.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, the [[U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Support Our Scouts Act]] of 2005 to exempt the BSA from anti-discrimination laws, to require the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] to support scouting [[National Scout jamboree (Boy Scouts of America)|Jamboree]]s (thus rendering ineffective a Federal Court injunction prohibiting this as an [[unconstitutional]] [[establishment of religion]] in violation of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]) and to require [[U.S. state|state]] or local governments that receive Community Development Block Grant money from the [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|Department of Housing and Urban Development]] to allow BSA to have meetings in their facilities or on their property.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bsalegal.org/support-our-scouts-act-of-2005-261.asp |title=Support our scouts act of 2005 |publisher=BSALegal.org |date=30 December 2005 |access-date=21 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130112130516/http://www.bsalegal.org/support-our-scouts-act-of-2005-261.asp |archive-date=12 January 2013}}</ref>

The BSA historically has received much of its funding and support from religious groups noted for their opposition to the [[gay rights movement]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Two-year anniversary of Supreme Court case |url=http://www.religionlink.org/tip_020624b.php |website=religionlink.org |access-date=4 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416213806/http://www.religionlink.org/tip_020624b.php |archive-date=16 April 2009 |date=24 June 2002 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Some BSA local councils found that [[United Way of America|United Way]]'s, municipalities', school districts' and businesses' support and funding was reduced because of their adherence to the BSA's policy on sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ffrf.org/timely/bsa.php |title=Boy Scouts Of America Practices Discrimination |publisher=Freedom From Religion Foundation |access-date=9 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050207120637/http://ffrf.org/timely/bsa.php |archive-date=7 February 2005}}</ref> In order to continue receiving funding, local councils like New Jersey signed nondiscrimination agreements contrary to BSA National Council policy.<ref name="jersey">{{cite web |url=http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/njcouncil.html |title=United Way to Continue Aid to Central Jersey Scouts |work=NY Times |date=31 August 2001 |access-date=3 November 2006 |archive-date=26 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235709/http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/njcouncil.html |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/fact.html?record=1325 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626123129/http://www.lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/fact.html?record=1325 |title=The Impact of the Boy Scouts of America's Anti-Gay Discrimination |archive-date=26 June 2006 |work=lambdalegal.org}}</ref> Other outdoor-focused, youth-based organizations such as the [[4-H]] club and [[Girl Scouts of the USA]] do not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

In most countries where Boy Scouts organizations exist homosexuality is not regarded as incompatible with scout values, and gay members are not excluded from activities;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scoutingforall.org/data/layer02/international.html |title=Scouting for All: Committed to Scouting, Open to Diversity. Working to end discrimination against gays, atheists, agnostics, other non-theists, and all other groups in the Boy Scouts of America. |work=scoutingforall.org |access-date=21 March 2009 |archive-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728005932/http://www.scoutingforall.org/data/layer02/international.html |url-status=live}}</ref> this includes the [[United Kingdom]], where scouting was founded by [[Baden-Powell]].

In July 2015, the Boy Scouts' executive board voted to end the ban on adult leaders who are openly gay.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/27/us/boy-scouts-gay-leaders-feat/ |title=Boy Scouts change policy on gay leaders |first=Todd|last=Leopold |date=27 July 2015 |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=23 August 2015 |archive-date=18 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818080621/http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/27/us/boy-scouts-gay-leaders-feat |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ|Politics|Society}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{annotated link|Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023}}
* [[Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric]]
* [[Antifeminism]]
* [[Anti-gender movement]]
* [[Biphobia]]
* [[Conversion therapy]]
* [[Culture war]]
* "[[Down-low (sexual slang)|Down-low]]", sexual subculture of [[Black people|Black men]] who identify as heterosexual but secretly [[Men who have sex with men|have sex with other men]]
* "[[Drop the T]]", slogan coined to encourage [[LGBTQ rights organization|LGBTQ organizations]] to stop support of [[transgender]] people
* [[Gay agenda]]
* [[Gay concentration camps in Chechnya]]
* [[Gay–straight alliance]]
* [[George Rekers]]
* [[Heteronormativity]]
* [[Heterosexism]]
* [[Homophile movement]]
* [[Homophobic propaganda]]
* [[Homosexual recruitment]], a [[conspiracy theory]] alleging conversion efforts targeting heterosexuals
* [[Ivar Lovaas]]
* [[Lesbophobia]]
* [[LGBTQ people and Islam]]
* [[LGBTQ retirement issues in the United States]]
* [[List of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ hate groups]]
* [[List of U.S. ballot initiatives to repeal LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws]]
* [[Persecution of gay and bisexual men by the Islamic State]]
* [[Straight pride]]
* [[Straightwashing]]
* [[Transphobia]]
** [[Discrimination against transgender men]]
** [[Transmisandry]]
** [[Transmisogynoir]]
** [[Transphobic misogyny]]
* [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]]
* [[Violence against LGBTQ people]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |title=History of the Anti-Gay Movement Since 1977 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/reports/history-anti-gay-movement-1977/ |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |location=Montgomery, Ala. |date=28 April 2005}}
* {{cite news |last1=Perkins |first1=Tom |title=US religious right at center of anti-LGBTQ+ message pushed around the world |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/09/us-religious-right-lgbtq-global-culture-fronts |work=The Guardian |date=9 July 2023}}

== External links ==
* {{wikiquote-inline}}

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[[Category:Homophobia]]
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[[Category:Religion and LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage]]
[[Category:Persecution of LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Anti-LGBTQ activism]]