Gay Friendly or Still Homophobic? The Influence of Religious Values on the Changing Attitudes of Far-Right Parties on Homosexual Questions

Far-right parties have generally defended traditional religious values, anti-feminist positions, and homophobic views. However, in the past two decades several far-right movements have started to reshape their ideology. While some of them have adopted more secular positions and liberal attitudes on LGBT questions, others have radicalized their opposition to homosexual rights by using arguments that bear a strong imprint of religious ideals. This paper investigates the influence of religious values on the changing attitudes of contemporary far-right parties on homosexuality. Two case studies are considered: the Front National (FN) and the Northern League (LN). These two parties followed paradigmatically different trajectories in revising their stances on LGBT questions. Whereas the FN under the leadership of Marine Le Pen has increasingly proclaimed its commitment to protect the laïcité of France and it has become more tolerant on homosexual questions, the LN since the late 1990s has been increasingly hostile to homosexuality and has presented itself as the better defender of the Catholic identity of Italy. This paper claims that the different attitudes of farright parties depend on two interrelated factors: the diffusion of conservative religious values in society and the presence of established moderate right-wing parties that already support these ideals. In those countries where conservative religious norms are still largely widespread and no major moderate right-wing party defend them far-right movements tend to assume morally conservative stances while the opposite occurs in those countries where religious ethical norms are weak or they are already sustained by moderate right-wing parties.