The Anti-Gender Movement as a Threat to Democracy in the Western Balkans

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Summary

Over the past several years, the Western Balkans witnessed the rise of anti-gender movements that challenge fundamental human rights and threaten the region’s fragile democratic structures. Anti-gender narratives target marginalized groups, particularly women and LGBTQ+ people. Political and legal frameworks in the region increasingly suppress basic rights, including access to health, education, and housing, driven by campaigns that falsely portray gender and LGBTQ+ rights as Western impositions. Society in these countries is still rife with misconceptions about people with LGBTQ+ identities.

Anti-gender actors in the Western Balkans are uniting to undermine inclusive policies in two major battlegrounds in particular: education and public assembly, particularly targeting Pride parades. In North Macedonia, educational initiatives like the comprehensive sexuality education program and gender-sensitive reforms have faced fierce backlash from coalitions of parents, religious groups, and right-wing organizations. In Serbia, similar anti-gender sentiment targeted a child sexual violence education package in 2017, framing it as a Western attempt to indoctrinate children. Such mobilization against inclusive education is part of a broader effort by anti-gender actors to dismantle protections for marginalized groups in the region under the guise of defending family values.

Pride parades have become flashpoints for anti-gender mobilization, with activists’ freedom of assembly increasingly under threat. In Serbia, EuroPride 2022 faced violent opposition, with religious leaders and right-wing political actors framing LGBTQ+ visibility as a threat to national security and traditional values. A similar pattern was witnessed in North Macedonia in 2023, with the Orthodox Church leading protests against Skopje Pride and proposed gender-equality laws. Religious leaders like Patriarch Porfirije in Serbia and Bishop Jakov Stobiski in North Macedonia have used anti-gender narratives to promote conservative ideologies, aligning themselves with right-wing parties and far-right groups to gain influence and obstruct LGBTQ+ and gender rights.

In addition, the cutting of US foreign aid has had an immediate and severe on civil society in the Western Balkans, and organizations working on gender-based violence, women’s rights, and LGBTQ+ rights were among the hardest hit.

Amid the growing challenges that LGBTQ+ communities and women face in the Western Balkans as a result of the rise of the anti-gender movement, building a strong, visible, and resilient movement is more crucial than ever for them. This is necessary to move toward a future in which they thrive, at a time when the global shift toward suppressing their fundamental rights is extremely challenging on many levels. In this context, feminist and LGBTQ+ organizations need to reassess, restructure, and expand their alliances. They must also prioritize safeguarding educational and cultural institutions from anti-gender influences, insisting that policies concerning comprehensive sexuality education, gender-sensitive curricula, and other inclusive educational reforms be guided by expert knowledge and the best interests of students. It is also key for the EU to integrate intersectional gender perspectives that address the rights of diverse minorities into the Berlin Process for enlargement in the Western Balkan. Finally, building sustainable networks of solidarity and prioritizing self-care for mental and physical well-being, as well as community support, for activists who face constant threats, harassment, and violence while advocating for marginalized communities are vital steps in the fight for equality in the Western Balkans. 

Angel Dimitrievski is a ReThink.CEE fellow 2024 of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.