Anti-Gender Politics in the Netherlands: Repoliticization as a Resistance Strategy

The Netherlands enjoys a reputation for tolerance and norm entrepreneurship in the realm of gender and sexuality. Even far-right parties have traditionally not countered norms of equality and non-discrimination, embracing a homonationalist discourse instead (Mepschen & Duyvendak 2012; Spierings 2021). Sexual tolerance even became constitutive of national identity. This situation led two leading scholars to speak of the depoliticization of homosexuality in the Netherlands (Hekma & Duyvendak 2011). Yet, this assessment no longer applies. The greater visibility of transgender people triggered a backlash against LGBTI+ rights that expressed itself in a surge of hate crimes and hate speech; the growing prominence of anti-gender organizations; and the appearance of Forum for Democracy as a far-right party that explicitly targets ‘gender ideology’ and ‘LGBTI propaganda’. This chapter describes the emergence of anti-gender politics in the Netherlands and the response of progressive actors. It argues that activists as well as political parties have adopted repoliticization as a resistance strategy. Two case studies illustrate this strategy: (1) the growing emphasis on activism at the Amsterdam Pride, which for years had been a predominantly celebratory and apolitical event, and; (2) the addition of sexual orientation to the anti-discrimination clause of the Dutch Constitution in 2023, which most political parties had thought redundant only a decade before. The chapter, in short, describes a shift from depoliticization to repoliticization concerning LGBTI+ rights. Empirically, the chapter draws on news articles, parliamentary debates, press releases, and official documents of anti-gender and LGBTI+ rights organizations.