2025/05/27 by Martijn Mos, Lucrecia Rubio Grundell · 2 voices
Social Sciences · #European Union Policy and Governance #Gender Politics and Representation #Social Policy and Reform Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/14616742.2025.2505125
openalex publication_date 2025/05/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/18
The European Parliament (EP) is commonly viewed as the most progressive institution of the European Union (EU), given its historic promotion of gender equality and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT+) rights. As such, it ostensibly represents an adverse venue for the anti-gender movement. This article argues, however, that the EP is more hospitable to anti-gender organizations than the extant scholarship recognizes. Drawing on the concept of political opportunity structures (POSs), it distinguishes between three types of opportunities that the EP offers anti-gender organizations: policy influence, mobilization, and organizational legitimation. Most accounts of POSs focus on the ability of non-state actors to influence public policy. Yet, it is here that anti-gender organizations – important victories notwithstanding – have been least successful. Instead, they have taken greater advantage of the other two opportunities. Through an analysis of the advocacy of anti-gender organizations at the EU level, the article demonstrates that they have used the EP to mobilize institutional and non-institutional allies, consolidating their transnational networks and discrediting their adversaries, as well as to boost their authority by presenting themselves as experts and the legitimate representatives of social interests. In this sense, the EP assists the advocacy of the anti-gender movement.