Who’s opposing gender in the Spanish Parliament? Vox as the leading party in parliamentary debates on gender

Polarization around gender is on the rise in parliamentary politics, concomitant with the rise of the far right. In the Spanish parliament the 2019-2023 legislature has been especially prolific in the presentation of legislative proposals on gender promoted mostly by the left coalition government PSOE-Unidas Podemos and the far-right party Vox. The prominence of Vox is decisive in explaining the polarization, tension and questioning of consensus on gender equality policies that has taken place during this period. What discursive and political strategies does Vox employ to oppose gender and LGBT equality? The main objective of this paper is to analyze the emergence of Vox’s parliamentary leadership in gender issues and the displacement of the mainstream right, Popular Party (PP), as head of the opposition. In doing this, I will identify the main gender equality issues debated in parliament and the positioning of policy actors in these debates. I will analyze legislative proposals as well as the parliamentary debates about these. The reason for selecting legislative proposals is to identify which are the political priorities of the parliamentary groups and which issues they prioritize to the extent that they promote a modification or regulation in this regard. I will conduct content analysis of the parliamentary sessions (2019-2023) that include the arguments of all parliamentary groups, their interactions, and replies. The topics identified as the most recurrent in these four years are gender violence, sexual and reproductive rights (with emphasis on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy and consent), gender identity, gender equality and family policies. The analysis will identify Vox's discursive position on gender matters: its definition of the problem, diagnosis, prognosis, and impact. I argue that the strategies adopted show that by opposing gender equality Vox is not merely opposing specific policies but rather threatening the legitimacy of gender equality as recognized in the Spanish Constitution and the legitimacy of gender equality as democratic institution.