Sexuality Education in Times of Cultural Backlash: Gender Ideology, Authoritarianism, and Public Opinion in Belgium

School-based sexuality education (SE) promotes young people’s sexual health and well-being and is supported at the highest political levels. However, resistance to SE is growing in Europe (WHO 2018; EU, 2021). Even in an alleged opposition-free country as Belgium this has substantially changed, showing by increased vocal protests, spread of fake news, conflicts over SE in class, and even arson in primary schools after a law mandating 4h of SE in Wallonia. There have always been debates around SE, but these debates have become more strident following of the emergence of ‘anti-gender movements’ on the social and political scene. In Belgium, opposition groups were joined by a sub-group of the population that has anti-government sentiments and hostility towards elites (vaccine hesitancy, conspiracy theorist), and particularly in Wallonia also by Muslim conservatism. It is unclear how these groups relate to Catholic and authoritarian right-wing movements, but also in Belgium gender seems to be a tool of coalition building in the mutual fight against an outer enemy ‘gender ideology’ and inner enemy ‘political correctness’ or ‘wokism’ (among right-wing populists) and the imposed neocolonial Western values of gender and sexual equality (among Muslim conservatives). These protestors have in common that they do not feel heard by a too liberal cultural elite deciding about such personal and intimate values as gender and sexuality. However, it is unclear whether these opinions are broadly shared among the population and how they are exactly intertwined. This study examines public opinion on SE to address the following research questions: To what extent does the general population in Belgium support or oppose SE? How are attitudes towards SE related shifting worldviews regarding gender, woke, and anti-democratic attitudes? This research draws on primary data from a probability-based survey of Belgian citizens aged 16 and above, newly collected in October 2025 (The Social Study; n = 4136). The survey includes a large set of Likert-type statements on SE covering narratives against and in favor of SE: cultural-religious-normative arguments, role of parents, role of school, and perceived consequences of SE. Using Latent Profile Analysis, we identify subgroups of individuals with differing profiles of attitudes towards SE. Next, we map the breeding ground for attitudes towards SE, particularly focusing on gender, gender ideology, wokeism, authoritarianism and anti-democratic attitudes. Our hypothesis is that there will be a profile of opposition for whom the gender-aspect of SE is not acceptable being symptomatic of a conservative-nostalgic backlash-worldview.