Italy’s Populist Radical Right and Anti-Gender Discourses: Lega, FdI and the Case of the Zan Bill

In 2021, Italian populist radical right (PRR) parties, Lega and Fratelli d’Italia (FdI), opposed the Zan bill, which sought to criminalise homo-bi-transphobia, misogyny and discrimination against disabilities. Unlike some European PRR parties that have declaredly adopted some pro-LGBTIQ stances, the Italian PRR’s opposition to the Zan bill reveals a different approach. Its case suggests that, in addition and complementary to targeting external ‘Others’ like immigrants or Muslims, the Italian PRR also promotes cis- and heteronormative models, constructing the LGBTIQ community as an internal threat to ‘the people’. This analysis sheds light on the centrality of gender in the PRR discourses and underscores the unique national context of anti-LGBTIQ and anti-gender rhetoric in Italy.
Keywords: PRR; anti-gender discourses; homonationalism; LGBTIQ rights