When the Radical Right’s Islamophobia Catches on with LGB People

Part One: Homonationalism

Image created using Stability AI: The illustration above references Enoch Powell’s “River of Blood” speech, drawing parallels with statements made by the radical right in their attempts to show their concerns for the LGB community.

Although radical right groups are traditionally anti-gay extremists, some today are using a concept known as “homonationalism” to appeal to LGB people. I’ll focus on clear examples of this in Western Europe and the United States. It’s also happening in the Middle East, including Israel and some African countries.

On the one hand, you have the radical right-wing elements of Evangelical Christianity intentionally chipping away at LGBTQ+ rights in the United States. On the other side, you have the idea of LGBTQ+ being promoted by countries such as Israel as a sign of the country’s moral enlightenment; for example, in the conflict in Gaza, you have Israeli soldiers posing with the LGBTQ+ flag in front of bombed-out buildings.

The irony is that, whilst, in the United States and Africa, the right-wing Christian Evangelicals who are closely aligned with the radical right are busy demonising transgender and other LGBTQ+ groups, the radical right, particularly in Europe, are invoking Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) rights as a weapon in their fight against migrants from non-white or Muslim countries.

Radical right-wing groups have historically opposed equality for LGBTQ+ groups. However, in recent years, there has been a shift…