Despite growing international recognition of LGBTQI+ rights, the adoption of inclusive policies across Europe remains highly uneven. While some countries have progressively expanded legal protections and recognition frameworks, others continue to resist or slow down such reforms. This variation suggests that, beyond cultural attitudes and social values, political and institutional factors that condition governments’ capacity and willingness to act constitute the main obstacles to LGBTQI+ policymaking.
Existing research has shown that ideological orientation is a central predictor of progress in this domain: leftist and GAL-oriented parties tend to promote equality measures, while rightist and TAN-oriented ones often resist them (Kollman 2013; Ayoub 2016; Turnbull‐Dugarte 2020). Yet, ideology alone cannot account for the persistence of political inaction or backlash. Even among progressive governments, the advancement of LGBTQI+ rights can be limited by institutional constraints, coalition dynamics, and electoral considerations. Coalition governments, for example, often face internal vetoes and compromise pressures that dilute reformist agendas. Similarly, when the electorate of leftist parties remains highly religious, party leaders may strategically avoid contentious moral issues to minimize electoral risks.
Beyond the executive, parliamentary composition and the structure of party competition further shape the opportunity space for reform. A strong presence of radical right parties can exert indirect pressure on mainstream actors, normalizing illiberal discourses and shifting the boundaries of acceptable policy debate (Mudde 2007; Paternotte and Kuhar 2018). In contrast, higher levels of women’s representation in parliament may contribute to widening the policy agenda and bringing issues of equality and inclusion to the fore, though gender balance alone is rarely sufficient to overcome entrenched ideological and institutional resistance.
Building on these insights, this paper investigates the political and institutional obstacles to the adoption of LGBTQI+ policies in the EU27. By combining data from a standardized version of the ILGA Rainbow Index (2000-2024) with information on government ideology, coalition structures, religiosity, and parliamentary composition, it identifies the conditions that hinder governments from advancing LGBTQI+ rights despite the growing normative European and international pressure toward inclusion.
