The conservative uses of law: The Catholic mobilization against gender ideology

Abstract

The term ‘gender ideology’ has become a conceptual and political tool used by various religious and secular actors who defend a legal system embedded in a sexual universal morality. Although the use of the term began within the Catholic sphere, it currently characterizes the politics of different countries that are facing a wave of neoconservative activism. The article analyzes the expansion and uses of this term by considering two main aspects: first, an analysis of its emergence as a strategy by the Vatican to combat the impact of Sexual and Reproductive Rights (SRR) on Universal Human Rights; second, a presentation of the appropriations and uses of the fight against gender ideology as part of a neoconservative movement in Latin America.

Introduction to the special issue on gender impacts: consumption, markets, marketing, and marketing organisations

“…An increased resistance to gender scholarship can be noted in politics around the globe where the idea of a dangerous 'gender ideology' spreading across the world is invoked by conservatives in many different contexts (Corredor, 2019;Kane, 2018;Linton, 2019;Vaggione, 2020). While the particularities of the 'gender ideology' narrative differs somewhat according to the political climate, the core message is that it is spreading and will have devastating effects for individuals, families, the people, and the nation.…”

“…In the beginning it was an internal university affair, connected to the increased popularity in poststructuralism, but then it started leaking out into the rest of the world. The term 'gender ideology' first arose in the Vatican in the mid 90s after the UN had formally approved of reproductive rights and had started using terms such as 'gender equality' and 'gender based violence' (Corredor, 2019;Rawluszko, 2019;Vaggione, 2020). The Catholic Church saw this as an assault on the biological nuclear family as the core cultural entity and heterosexuality as a legally protected norm (Corredor, 2019;Kuhar, 2015).…”

“…Shortly thereafter a number of books came out, most notably O' Leary's (2007) The Gender Agenda: Redifining Equality, that claimed that the semantic shifts in the UN documents towards talking about gender illustrated that the organisation had been infiltrated by 'postmodern feminism' (Kane, 2018;Linton, 2019). This marked the beginning of a more widespread global anti gender movement (Corredor, 2019;Kuhar, 2015;Rawluszko, 2019;Vaggione, 2020). A few years later, in 2013, a number of Polish bishops came together to protest against the spread of gender ideology and Bishop Pieronek, one of the most famous and influential bishops in Poland, stated that, 'I would like to add that the ideology of gender presents a threat worse than Nazism and Communism combined' (Sierakowski, 2014).…”

La (re)irrupción del discurso de la «ideología de género» en América Latina. Protestas, atención del público y respuestas gubernamentales

“…El liderazgo de la Iglesia católica en la creación y difusión del discurso de la «ideología de género» se centró en criticar y cuestionar a los organismos internacionales, como la Organización de Naciones Unidas. Esta posición fue permanente durante el inicio del siglo xxi, primero bajo el papado de Benedicto xvi quien fue conocido por sus posiciones ultraconservadoras en la defensa de la familia tradicional, y posteriormente durante el papado de Francisco, que a pesar de presentar un discurso aparentemente renovador sobre temas como la moral sexual, continuó refiriéndose a la «ideología de género» como una amenaza para los derechos humanos, una imposición colonialista y una deformación del individuo y de la naturaleza (Vaggione, 2020).…”

Diversity as a gift: LGBTQI+ Roman Catholic organizations in twenty-first-century Brazil

“…One of the major challenges currently facing sexual and gender diversity in Latin America is the growing mobilization of social actors against what they call “gender ideology.” Such phrase was first coined and developed in Catholic environments, from the 1990s onwards, aiming at simultaneously delegitimizing gender studies, the LGBTQI+ and feminist movements and the struggles for the guarantee and expansion of sexual and reproductive rights (Vaggione 2020 ). Since then, it has also been adopted and disseminated by segments of other Christian churches—as well as by movements, groups, and actors that present themselves as Christians and/or make use of Christian vocabulary and rhetoric.…”