Ambivalences of Neoliberalism: Vulnerable LGBTI Subjects and the EU ’s "Duty of Care"

Over the past three decades, the European Union has introduced some significant legal and policy changes concerning LGBTI rights. Partly, this can be explained by how proponents of LGBTI rights framed them in a way that was in line with neoliberal discourses. In the 1990s, activists re-framed their demands in terms of people who love each other and want to “be themselves” (Nay 2015). This framing with (seemingly) universal emotions made it easier to recognise the “sameness” of LGBTI people, which generally is a precondition for giving rights to previously marginalised people (Maihofer 2006). Furthermore, the neoliberal re-evaluation of diversity as economically beneficial (Engel 2009) and the increasing association of LGBTI people with love and family strengthens the notion that they are “good” and productive citizens (Puar 2007). Based on a critical policy analysis of EU documents, parliamentary debates, and expert interviews, this contribution analyses how neoliberal discourses shape the EU’s LGBTI policies today, focusing on ambivalences and unexpected dynamics. As Thiel (2015) points out, the dominance of neoliberalism at the EU level could lead to the “normalisation of sexualities into consuming, de-politicised constituencies” and to LGBTI policies that are limited to providing very partial rights instead of aiming for “universal social justice and broader human and social rights” (ibid). While these tendencies are clearly present in the EU’s LGBTI policies, in some cases, neoliberal frames seem to have introduced elements that then took on a life on their own, moving away from the economic logic. Especially interesting in this regard is the EU’s recent focus on violence, bullying and hate speech. It seems that the neoliberal emphasis on individualism and self-realisation also gave rise to an interest in individual experiences of discrimination. Since the mid-2000s, EU documents and actors have often contrasted narratives framing LGBTI equality as a matter of love and people “being themselves” with narratives focusing on experiences of violence, bullying and hate speech to emphasise the urgency for EU intervention. First, such narratives link the concept of positive freedom - freedom of choice and the possibility for self-realisation -, which has become dominant in neoliberalism, back to the idea of negative freedom - freedom from violence and discrimination. The EU is called upon as having a duty to ensure this negative freedom, which is seen as a precondition for the “freedom to”. Therefore, these narratives re-introduce the idea that LGBTI people are subjects with vulnerabilities and needs towards which the EU has a duty of care, rather than just workers and consumers. Second, policy discourses focusing on violence and discrimination tend to shift away from defining formal equality as the goal and instead focus on the “marginalisation and well-being of LGBTI persons”. Third, it seems that these new discourses also carry the potential to overcome the “homonormative” bias of earlier policies and develop a more intersectional understanding of discrimination. As EU actors become interested in how homophobia and discrimination affect people individually, they also seem to realise that discrimination affects different LGBTI people differently and start to include a greater variety of identities and experiences.