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European Parliament Elections: Experts and Law-Makers ‘Extremely’ Worried About Influence of Anti-Gender Movements
Less than six weeks from the European Parliament elections, Brussels is abuzz with anticipation – and concern about a further political move to the right.
The elections on 6-9 June – with a combined electorate of more than 400 million people voting across 27 countries – are expected to further mainstream far-right ideas and parties, potentially pulling the European Parliament to the right.
Whether in Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany or France, the far-right is marching steadily into the mainstream, with the latest polls indicating significant electoral gains. EU law-makers and independent experts in Brussels consider this “extremely worrying”.
Renew Europe MEP Samira Rafaela, of the Netherlands, warns of a “significant backlash against the rights and values that progressive movements, democrats, and liberals have worked so hard to establish".
She told Byline Times: “Whether it's the bodily autonomy of women, the right to abortion, or LGBTIQ rights, these movements are actively working to roll-back these hard-won rights, directly threatening our rule of law."
Dutch MEP Sophie in 't Veld, also of Renew Europe, believes the agenda is connected with anti-rights movements and serves as a “smokescreen for their real objectives – authoritarianism and kleptocracy”. According to her, the discussion of ethical issues are “mere sales strategies”, not real goals and part of a broader movement.
Both parliamentarians emphasise the strong link between right-wing political parties and anti-gender movements – highlighting the significant funding, well-thought-out plans behind them, and their transatlantic nature.
“These anti-democratic actors are infiltrating our democratic institutions, including the European Parliament and other multilateral organisations like the UN," Rafaela said. "They are translating their ideology into dangerous legislative and policy proposals, which directly threaten people’s lives."
According to the parliamentarians, one of the tactics frequently used by the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group and the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), is to push for 'split votes’ on gender and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues to prevent decisions from being made, as neither side holds the majority.
Another strategy for pushing initiatives against abortion and equal marriage is utilising mechanisms such as the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) which, upon reaching one million signatures, requires the European Commission to either propose legislation or justify why it doesn’t. An example of a successful ECI by anti-democratic actors is One of Us, which now presents itself as “the most representative and global pro-life movement”.
These actors also employ traditional advocacy methods, using the same legal, advocacy, and campaigning techniques as progressive actors, but not their values and policy claims. They often focus on concepts like 'religious freedom’ and 'freedom of speech’, which is why they are sometimes referred to as “uncivil society” in the EU. One attempt tried to defeat the European Parliament reports on SRHR.
Realising the gravity of this situation, Rafaela and her team researched the funding sources and uncovered significant foreign interference, with considerable foreign funding involved.
“I raised this issue with the President of the European Parliament, urging for a review of our transparency and lobby register," she told Byline Times. "Until now, I haven’t seen the result of that request."
In ‘t Veld added: “These organisations are like Trojan horses – they are infiltrating political systems and mobilising far-right voters."
The European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights revealed in its 2021 research that $700 million has been spent on ‘anti-gender’ activities since 2009. About $430 million originated from European sources, $180 million from Russia and $80 million from the US.
The Anti-Gender Landscape in Europe
David Paternotte, a Belgian sociologist and gender studies academic, believes the landscape of anti-gender campaigns in Europe is “rapidly evolving and expanding".
“Countries that were not previously associated with such movements, especially those in northern Europe, like the Netherlands and Sweden, are now part of this phenomenon,” he told Byline Times.
Neil Datta, executive director of the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, identifies three broad categories of anti-gender actors – European branches of US Christian-Right organisations, newly created European organisations and networks, and organisations directly linked to religious institutions.
According to Datta, the most vocal European branches of US Christian-Right organisations are the European Center for Law and Justice (ECLJ), the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADFI), and the World Youth Alliance (WYA).
While ECLJ and the ADFI specialise in legal advocacy and strategic litigation, Brussels-based WYA represents young people's views on Catholic social doctrine, focusing on human dignity.
Investigations by OpenDemocracy 2019 revealed that the US Christian Right groups invested heavily in Europe, spending more than $98 million between 2007 and 2019, mainly on campaigns against women’s and LGBTIQ rights, sex education, and abortion.
Among home-grown anti-gender organisations are CitizenGo – an ultra-conservative, multi-lingual petition platform and advocacy group headquartered in Madrid, and One of Us Federation.
Another vocal organisation is the Ordo Iuris, created in 2013 in Poland and part of the transnational movement Tradition, Family, Property (TFP). It is behind policy initiatives such as the 2016 bill to ban abortion and the “Stop Paedophilia” law, which criminalises sex education and allows LGBTIQ-free zones.
Datta identifies two significant actors in the third category: the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), representing the Roman Catholic Church in European institutions; and the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), the only explicitly religious European political party.
In addition, these actors and organisations have established several forums where they meet regularly for networking and strategising. The most noteworthy are the World Congress of Families (WCF), Agenda Europe, and the Political Network for Values.
Why Are They Gaining Respectability and Power?
The MEPs and experts agree that anti-rights movements are becoming increasingly sophisticated, particularly through the use of online platforms and new technologies.
“This is a significant challenge for us,” said Rafaela. “The online environment gives these anti-rights movements the means to target progressive voices and spread false and biased information.”
David Paternotte added: “By constantly producing content and occupying online spaces, they can reach diverse audiences and shape public opinion.”
Paternotte mentioned the role of emerging media outlets, such as the Brussels Signal and the European Conservative, as offering an alternative perspective to what they perceive as “liberal” EU media.
“These platforms are open microphones for far-right leaders and actively support their agenda, especially in the run-up to elections,” he said.
Potential Election Scenarios
Currently, the European Parliament is composed of seven political groups. The largest five are: the European People's Party (EPP) on the centre-right, the Socialists and Democrats on the centre-left, Renew Europe in the liberal centre, the Greens on the far-left, and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) on the hard-right.
Datta predicts that the far-right could become the majority “unless something extraordinary happens”. However, he believes it is unlikely that it will reach an absolute majority.
“They may not have enough to block legislation outright, but they could have enough influence to hinder other political parties from pursuing their usual agenda," he said.
According to the expert, one possibility is that the far-right and hard-right factions perform well enough to prevent a majority between the centre-right and centre-left. Alternatively, the EPP might be tempted to form an alliance with the hard-right, or even the far-right, to establish a right-wing majority.
“This potential alliance is worrying because it could lead to stagnation or even roll-back of the progress made in these areas," Datta told Byline Times. "While the far-right may not make substantial gains, their influence on other political parties could be significant."
In’ t Veld believes the most significant risk lies in EPP, which could lean towards far-right ideologies to secure support and weaken the political centre.
Datta believes that EPP’s possible coalition with the hard-right – as seen in Sweden, Finland, and Italy – “poses a significant threat to the foundations of liberal democracy in Europe”.
How to Limit Far-Right Gain
Rafaela emphasised the need to organise multi-stakeholder dialogues, events, and campaigns to promote democratic values and ensure that citizens are well-informed and educated as many “still dismiss these concerns as conspiracy theories”.
She also stressed the importance of articulating their stance clearly.
“For instance, we must specify that we’re advocating for the right to safe and legal abortion access," she said. "Otherwise, anti-rights movements can easily distort our message.”
In 't Veld said the US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade has emboldened some European governments and highlighted the need to anchor rights in constitutional frameworks to prevent them from being easily undone. She mentioned the recent parliamentary vote in favour of including access to abortion in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.
According to the law-maker, another key strategy is raising awareness about foreign interference in debates on abortion, gender equality, and LGBTIQ rights.
But she acknowledged the challenges: “While general awareness is rising, it’s a slow process."
The European Congress of Families and The International Organization for the Family
Conservative MPs Miriam Cates and Ranil Jayawardena attended the European Congress of Families conference (ECF) which ran from 15-17 September 2023 in Croatia, as speakers in a programme that included members of far-right parties, organisations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as hate groups, and several of those named in a European Parliament report into the funding of religious extremism with dark money from the US radical right and Russia.
Both Cates and Jayawardena were outliers at the ECF for not having publicly called for a rolling back of sexuality and reproductive rights, and they have distanced themselves from the more strident positions of the recently rebranded and Russian-funded World Congress of Families.
However, Cates' speeches at other conferences and the manifesto of her New Social Covenant initiative include some of the same motifs used by the anti-gender movement.
In the Background: a Hundred Million Dollar Network
Tip Of The Iceberg (TOTI), a report published in 2021 by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, assembled financial data between 2009 to 2018 to detail how more than $707million was funnelled into a network of more than 50 anti-gender actors operating in Europe with the intention of rolling back human rights in sexuality and reproduction under the guise of supporting the traditional family.
A key organisation in this network bridging the US and Russia is the World Congress of Families (WCF) which rebranded in 2016 with its umbrella organisation the International Organization for the Family (IOF). One of ECF’s headline speakers was the IOF's chairman Brian Brown, other speakers included IOF members Keith Mason and Allan C Carlson, WCF founder and International Secretary.
Brian Brown, who is also on the board of another key organisation, CitizenGO, is on TOTI’s list of the thirteen most influential individuals in the anti-gender network. TOTI’s section on Russian “laundromats” covers Brown’s involvement with WCF board member Alexey Komov.
Komov serves as the External Relations Representative of the Russian Orthodox Church , is a board member of CitizenGO and is the focal point for international projects at the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation, since its founder, the oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, was banned from Europe and much of the West due to sanctions after the annexation of Crimea. US intelligence services considered Malofeev to be “Putin’s right arm for operations of political interference in Europe”.
In total the report identifies $186,400,000 of Russian funding for anti-gender activities with $77,300,000 from the St. Basil the Great Charitable Foundation.
Demonstrating its close ties to Putin’s regime, in 2014 the WCF was due to gather in Moscow, inside the Kremlin Palace, but because of international sanctions, the WCF rebranded the event as the “Large Families and the Future of Humanity Forum”, while keeping the same location, date, speakers and participants.
The largest European funder of anti-gender activities is the Jerome Lejeune Foundation (JLF) which spent $120,167,509 in the time period covered by the report. David G Lejeune who established the foundation’s US chapter, and was its President from March 2017 to February 2023, was a speaker at the ECF conference.
Another ECF speaker, David Ibáñez, represented Political Network for Values (PNfV), an ultra-conservative platform that connects far-right politicians and activists from Europe, Latin America, US and Africa, and is yet another influential organisation named in TOTI, receiving funding from the JLF.
PNfV has hosted events sponsored by organisations designated as anti-LGBTQ+ hate groups by the SPLC, according to an analysis by Ipas, an international organisation working to advance sexual and reproductive rights. Among the groups are Family Watch International, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), The Center for Family and Human Rights and the IOF. ADF provided $23,300,000 in funding to the network identified by TOTI.
Sharon Slater, the head of Family Watch International and a PNfV board member, was revealed by openDemocracy to have been deeply involved in the political organising behind the infamous Uganda law that criminalises LGBTQ+ people.
PNfV has close links to Hungarian politics, having previously been chaired by a former minister and member of the country’s parliament, Katalin Novák, who left her position with the organisation in 2022 to be sworn in as Hungary’s President. In 2020 the Hungarian Government provided $140,000 to PNfV and the next PNfV Trans-Atlantic Summit in November 2021 was held in the Hungarian Parliament.
Another speaker, Nicola Speranza, is Secretary General of the Federation of Catholic Family Associations, which is listed by TOTI as an anti-gender organisation and has produced joint reports with the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM). The ECPM has hosted events against abortion, surrogacy and in support of “reintegrative therapy”, a rebranded version of gay conversion therapy.
Diego von Stauffenberg, founding member of Crossroads Pro-Life, was at the ECF conference representing Rivada Networks, a US-based communications technology business financially backed by Peter Thiel.
Right Wing Connections
The ECF conference featured numerous European politicians from the hard and far-right: Margarita De La Pisa Carrión, Victor González Coello de Portugal and Hermann Tertsch are all members of the Spanish far-right Vox Party which is named by TOTI as a beneficiary of anti-gender funding and is described as the “political expression” of CitizenGO and HazteOir, “one of the most important organisations on the far-right political spectrum” due to its extensive social media activity.
Three members of Georgio Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party, Eugenia Maria Roccella Minister for Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, Nicola Procaccini MEP, and Cinzia Pellegrino of the Italian Senate also spoke at the event.
Croatian MP Ladislav Ilčić, whose party openly advocates for a ban on abortion and artificial reproduction, was also a speaker at the conference. He has claimed “health education in schools is used to introduce homosexual propaganda” because “It teaches the children that homosexual acts are equally valuable and natural as heterosexual”, continuing “The Church condemns behaviour of homosexuals as evil and it has the right to say it.”
Also speaking was another Croatian MP, Vesna Vučemilović from the Homeland Movement, a coalition of minor right-wing and far-right parties which opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.
Jayawardena and Cates were approached for comment and asked what the values of the IOF are, as they understand them.
Jayawardena’s office replied, “Ranil was present for a short part of the conference – to set out his own views – and our records do not indicate that he shared a platform with anyone representing the International Organisation of the Family.”
Cates’ office was also keen to stress that speaking at the conference didn’t constitute sharing a platform with other speakers. “She spoke on a panel. Nobody from that organisation was on the panel. They were all MPs or MEPs.”
‘These LGBT Freaks – Do We Have Them Castrated?’: Inside Europe’s Invite-Only Conversion Therapy Conference
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Just days after Rishi Sunak reportedly dropped plans to introduce a conversion therapy ban, Byline Times can reveal that a project of a charity registered in Northern Ireland held a conference in Poland where delegates heard about conversion therapy techniques, how fundamentalist Christian leaders met with British MPs and lords to convince them to fight against conversion therapy bans, and asked whether castration would get rid of “LGBT freaks”.
Organised by the International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC) – a London-based company that says it is a “home for the once-gay” – the event welcomed Polish psychologists, American paediatricians, Malaysian religious leaders, Slovakian politicians, Norwegian pornography opponents, self-described British “ex-gays”, and German doctors.
Held in a hotel on the outskirts of Warsaw, the conference attracted more than 220 participants from 34 countries from 27 to 29 October, where 23 speakers conducted 37 sessions.
The IFTCC is a project of the Core Issues Trust, which is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, and describes itself as providing support for "those leaving LGBT identities, behaviours, attractions and life choices”.
A cross-border investigation by Byline Times, German newspaper Die Tageszeitung, and independent Russian exiled investigative media outlet iStories Media, has discovered the public face of the IFTCC – which purports to “promote a caring, non-judgemental training environment” for people seeking support about sexuality issues – is markedly different from much of the pseudoscientific and harmful rhetoric discussed at the conference.
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'Supernatural Evil’
At first glance, the IFTCC event appeared to be like any typical conference. Delegates sipped filter coffee in between sessions and made small talk about the Polish weather. But listening to the presentations – such as one by an American university professor who explained how a selection of techniques and the power of the Holy Spirit could “break down the walls of the same-sex attraction house” – and it was clear that this conference was anything but normal.
During a Q&A conversation, in which an attendee asked what can be done about the “toxic LGBT ideology”, Dr Laura Haynes, USA Country representative for the IFTCC and licensed psychologist, explained how she had seen even “liberal parents” fighting against this supposed ideology. She said this was happening because, when their child comes home saying they are gay, these liberal parents are saying they are experiencing “supernatural evil”.
“Some have said this has led them to believe there might be supernatural good, there might be a god," she told the international audience. "Sometimes even the devil does God's will.”
For Fiona Wyatt – an active support of the Core Issues Trust who co-hosted the organisations’ 'The Pilgrim’s Way – The Journey’ discipleship series with her husband Simon Wyatt, a director of the Core Issues Trust – the conference was an ideal opportunity to share the challenges she faced for standing against the ‘LGBTQ agenda’.
Bethel Christian Assembly, the church led by Simon Wyatt, had its lease terminated, allegedly due to its anti-gay beliefs being discovered. When Fiona Wyatt heard about rainbow-coloured zebra crossings being painted in her local area, she sent an email to church members giving them a template of how to complain to the council. Once the caretaker found this email and shared its contents, the lease was terminated.
Fiona explained how she wanted to “get some research about what’s really happening, what’s really true. These LGBT freaks – do we have them castrated?” she laughed. “What do we do? We need to know.”
While many of the conference sessions were recorded and released to supporters online, violent language like this was not found in the publicly available videos.
A number of attendees said they deeply value the ability to be among friends and share their true thoughts and feelings about LGBT people without censorship at the three-day event.
A number of international human rights organisations state that conversion practices can be tantamount to torture. According to a statement on conversion therapy by the Independent Forensic Expert Group – an organisation established by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims – these practices “may amount to torture depending on the circumstances, namely the severity of physical and mental pain and suffering inflicted”.
Both the Core Issues Trust and IFTCC say they do not endorse, practice or encourage conversion therapy.
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'Once Gay – Not Anymore’
Members of X-Out-Loud, a group which describes themselves as ex-gay, provided practical support throughout the conference, doing everything from helping to staff the pop-up book shop to bringing late delegates into sessions.
Wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “once gay – not anymore" in rainbow colours, these mainly younger people were showcased as living proof that it is possible to overcome homosexuality through 'healing from God'.
As a project of the Core Issues Trust, X-Out-Loud members "share their testimonies of leaving LGBT identities or lifestyles, following a personal encounter with Jesus”. During the latest Church of England Synod in November, several X-Out-Loud members gathered in front of The Church House, home of the headquarters of the Church of England, to protest against same-sex blessings.
From books such as X-Out-Loud: Emerging Ex-LGBT Voices – which features 44 testimonies from people in 22 countries who report having left LGBT identities – to a film called Once Gay – Matthew and Friends, in which X-Out-Loud member Matthew Grech discusses what he sees as the "must-stay-gay" culture; the project is active online and across social media.
According to a report published by US non-profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, X-Out-Loud “co-opts and warps the language of the LGBTQ+ rights movement for its own ends”.
All major counselling and psychotherapy bodies in the UK – including the NHS and British Psychological Society – view conversion therapy as a harmful practice and have signed a Memorandum of Understanding reflecting their “commitment to ending the practice of ‘conversion therapy’ in the UK”.
Global Ambitions
London may be the base for many organisations involved with the IFTCC conference, but prominent evangelical Christian organisations are working to spread their influence far from the capital city.
The not-for-profit advocacy group Christian Concern is led by chief executive Andrea Williams, who spoke at length during two sessions at the conference on a range of topics from how abortion in the UK is a "legalised holocaust" to the strategies of fighting against anti-discrimination changes across the world.
“One of my great heroines is Shirley Richards in Jamaica, who has been resisting the decriminalisation of buggery laws in her nation,” Williams said at the conference. “Because decriminalisation goes to the redefining of words and institutions. Anti-discrimination and equal rights mean that, unless you comply with this new agenda, you will be silenced – you will be criminalised.”
According to Companies House filings, Williams was a director of the Core Issues Trust from October 2015 until May 2019.
On 12 April this year, the Christian Concern account on X (formerly Twitter) posted that Williams had travelled to the British Virgin Islands, South Africa and South Korea to “bolster Christians seeking to stand firm in the face of a different kingdom – of LGBT ideology”.
The Christian Legal Centre, part of Christian Concern, is supporting Matthew Grech, an X-Out-Loud member and self-proclaimed ex-gay, as he faces charges of advertising conversion practices in Malta, a country where conversion therapy is outlawed.
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In the UK, Williams and Christian Concern have been active in the successful attempt to stop a conversion therapy ban bill to pass into law.
In an email to Christian Concern supporters, seen by Byline Times, Andrea Williams said one part of the “hard, multi-faceted work” the organisation carried out to stop the ban was meeting MPs and Lords face-to-face to help them understand that a ban would be harmful and not needed. “By God's grace, we have made remarkable progress in this campaign,” she wrote.
During one of her sessions at the conference, Williams said that while pro-gay activists say they want homosexuality to be decriminalised across the world, every nation is permitted to make its own criminal laws.
Boosted by the successful campaign to stop conversion therapy being banned in the UK, Williams is now setting out a strategy that, if successful, would roll-back decades of hard-won human rights legislation, including same-sex marriage and anti-discrimination laws.
“Together, we are building a global response by building a global training ground, we're building a global presence, we're going to have global funding – absolutely nothing is going to stop us,” Williams said.
Mike Davidson, IFTCC chairman, Core Issues Trust CEO and X-Out-Loud Europe co-director, told Byline Times: "The IFTCC's International Declaration on ‘Conversion Therapy’ and Therapeutic Choice reflects the IFTCC’s understanding on the research literature relating to sexual ‘orientation’ and gender incongruence. Our policy documents reflect the ethical statements and practice guidelines we encourage in those associating with us.”
Instead of answering any of this newspaper's questions, Davidson referred it to the IFTCC website.
Dr Laura Haynes, Fiona Wyatt and Andrea Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
This investigation was funded by Journalismfund.eu
