A shock election outcome

Anti-LGBT messages in Romanian right-wing and populist rhetoric are on the rise. Anti-gender sentiment has become intertwined with illiberalism. Politics in Romania is rife with heteropatriarchal nationalist values — and right-wing political campaigners are weaponising homophobia to enforce their illiberal agenda.

In the first round of Romania's November 2024 presidential election, Călin Georgescu, an illiberal independent, surprised everyone by winning the most votes. This emboldened Georgescu's supporters and the far-right media to claim that opposition candidate Elena Lasconi 'fights against Creation itself' by 'directly promoting the LGBTQ+ globalist agenda'.

Călin Georgescu's success in the first round of Romania's 2024 elections emboldened his supporters to denounce the opposition as promoters of an LGBTQ+ agenda

But is that really the case? In a 2023 interview, Lasconi publicly declared she had voted 'yes' in Romania's 2018 referendum to define 'family' as a union between a man and a woman. Despite this, homophobic campaigns against her continue to spread. The referendum's aim was to change the constitutional definition of marriage, forcing an explicitly heterosexual interpretation. Many conservative and illiberal actors mobilised citizens in support. Ultimately, however, the referendum failed the quorum requirement, because most citizens chose not to vote.

Hegemonic masculinity

After the first-round presidential election results in November 2024, many were shocked to discover details about Georgescu's history. He had previously expressed pro-fascist sentiments — describing, for example, two Romanian fascist leaders from the 1920s and 1940s as 'heroes'. The revelations mobilised hundreds of students to protest against fascism in Bucharest and many other Romanian cities.

Georgescu denounced the protests as 'a direct blow to the heart of democracy worldwide'. And George Simion, Georgescu's political ally, mocked the students, warning 'the skinny male protesters should be careful with their ovaries in the cold weather'.

The revelation of Călin Georgescu's historic pro-fascist sentiments sparked student protests in Bucharest and elsewhere

Raewyn Connell argues that the type of masculinity espoused by Georgescu and Simion is an ideal that society imposes on men. If such men uphold patriarchal values, she says, they avoid the stigma associated with expressing 'other types' of masculinity. 'Hyper-feminised' homosexual men, argues Connell, threaten to upset the patriarchal status quo.

Homo-nationalism

Koen Slootmaekers describes how nationalists mobilise their supporters through a process of 'othering'. Promoting hegemonic masculinity, they claim homosexuality is the enemy eroding 'real' masculinity.

Right-wing homo-nationalist movements seek to 'bring back what was lost'. They portray men from the past as the true paragons of masculinity. Unsurprisingly, extreme nationalism plays a dominant role in Georgescu’s discourse. By idealising men from the past, especially those from fascist groups which persecuted homosexuals, he can evoke false nostalgia for a masculinity that never existed.

Idealising historical fascists who persecuted homosexuals evokes false nostalgia for a masculinity that never existed

Georgescu named his agriculture development NGO The Ancestral Land, after a Romanian fascist newspaper from the interwar period. Sometimes, his political rhetoric manages to provoke homophobic reactions through nationalist references alone. Georgescu repeatedly harks back to the 'eternity of the Romanian nation'. In so doing, he reignites homophobic discourse already stoked by other Romanian illiberal actors.

Alienation and ostracisation

Elena Lasconi, a rather conservative candidate herself, has fallen prey to illiberal homophobic propaganda. Georgescu is openly misogynistic. When asked about the prospect of a female president, he responded that 'the woman has another role, not that of a president. She can’t handle that role'.

Illiberal actors weaponise homophobia to alienate their political opposition. By othering those who oppose their nationalist project, they incite homophobia to undermine their opponents' legitimacy. During Romania's 2024 presidential campaign, this tactic worked so well that Lasconi had to publicly address a prior claim that she supported civil partnerships between same-sex couples. The ensuing backlash forced her to admit she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman only. She remained adamant, however, that her political party does not have a plan for 'promoting the LGBTQ' agenda.

Raewyn Connell argues that masculinity is constructed in contrast with femininity. As a woman, Lasconi already represents everything disparaged by hegemonic masculinity (an ideal which effectively amounts to 'not-femininity'). This makes it far easier for illiberals such as Georgescu to imply that she supports gay rights, which they already see as 'feminine'.

By evoking false nostalgia to promote a sense of social stability, the far right in Romania has woven a convincing, appealing narrative. A far-right candidate won the first round of the now-postponed 2025 elections. Romania's opposition parties must now confront his persuasive narrative.

In a political climate brimming with illiberal sentiments, left-leaning parties must carefully consider the needs of their citizens. As such, the opposition's agenda has to include lower-class individuals, especially those living in underdeveloped rural areas. Appealing solely to the middle-class urban demographic is not going to deter the illiberal drift anytime soon.

No.41 a thread on the 'illiberal wave' 🌊 sweeping world politics

This blog piece was written for the course 'Gendering Illiberalism', co-designed and co-taught by Andrea Pető (with TA Irfana Khatoon) and Alina Dragolea (with TA Oana Dervis) sponsored by CIVICA alliance universities Central European University (CEU) and the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA).

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