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.
