Anti-feminist and queer-/trans-hostile ideologies and mobilizations function as central bridging elements that sustain the appeal and implementation of right-authoritarian, anti-democratic politics. At the same time, the sexual politics of the far-right are marked by profound contradictions—what Möser et al. (2022) describe as paradoxical sexual politics. These paradoxes become visible, for instance, in the inclusion of non-heteronormative actors within far-right milieus (Degen 2024), in right-wing women’s engagement with questions of work–family reconciliation and shifting gender relations (Reusch & Lang 2022), and in the simultaneous promotion of a “natural” gender order alongside sexual exceptionalism as a narrative of superiority (Dietze 2019).
Building on current research on (far-)right and authoritarian gender politics, this paper explores how paradoxical sexual politics can be critically addressed in political education through insights gained from LGBTIQ+ movements. (Self-)education against discrimination within and through LGBTQ+ movements brings questions of identity, gender, and desire into political discourse and has therefore always been inherently political. At the same time, it represents a fundamental democratizing force - one that is particularly challenged in times of global authoritarian mobilizations, yet also provides crucial resources to resist them. The movements’ critique of (hetero-/homo)normalization and securitization counts among these resources, offering a valuable perspective for confronting (de-democratizing) authoritarian and right-wing (sexual) politics.
The paper therefore proposes a queer(ing) approach to civic education as a means of fostering democratic learning - as learning form, with and in LGBITQ+ movements. It argues that engaging with the paradoxical sexual politics of the far right through queer(ing) political education is essential for (re-)democratization, also by challenging concepts of (liberal) democracy and democratic inclusion.
