Practising Counter-Strategies: Resisting the Anti-Gender Backlash in Slovenia

The main feature of the recent anti-gender movement in Europe is that it represents a break from previous opposition to equality policies, since it has adopted new political tactics and new discourses that, like equality policies, refers to human rights, fundamental freedoms, and democracy. This clearly distinguishes it from earlier conservative mobilizations, which generally did not utilise the discourses and tactics of the feminist/LGBT+ movements. Due to aforementioned characteristics, contemporary anti-gender movement are categorised as “neoconservative” in the literature. However, while studies on anti-gender movement are flourishing, there is a noticeable gap in comprehensive research exploring the specific strategies employed by feminist/LGBT+ movements to counter neoconservative mobilization. To address this gap, we examine the feminist/LGBT+ resistance strategies against the neoconservative mobilization in Slovenia, one of the first countries where an anti-gender movement emerged. We conducted interviews with Slovenian feminist/LGBT+ activists and performed a critical frame analysis of movement documents related to campaigns on marriage equality and reproductive rights. The objective was to understand how feminist/LGBT+ activists navigate the discursive terrain historically associated with their movements, now occupied by neoconservative actors. Specifically, we aimed to discern whether the new tactics and discourses employed by anti-gender movement necessitate novel forms of resistance from the feminist/LGBT+ community. Preliminary findings indicate that in the initial stages, feminist/LGBT+ activists in Slovenia underestimated the potential impact of neoconservative mobilization on equality policies. However, as the effectiveness of anti-gender actions became apparent, activists developed counter-strategies. Notably, in the realm of abortion, feminist/LGBT+ movements in Slovenia achieved substantial legal changes in response to efforts to restrict abortion rights. Additionally, some organizations within these movements have increasingly utilized social media platforms, particularly Facebook, to challenge the discourse propagated by anti-gender actors and their supporters. We contextualize these findings within an analysis of the prevailing structural conditions that either empower or hinder the capacity of feminist/LGBT+ movements to effectively counter neoconservative mobilizations in contemporary society.