The US election and resistance to gender ideology

In scoring his decisive electoral win, Donald Trump gained support from diverse demographics including Muslims, Latinos, Black men, and the white working class. Trump's return to power has global implications. Its influence on international power balances, including gender politics, will be profound.

During his 2016–2020 presidency, Trump legislated to weaken reproductive rights, restrict transgender representation in the military and sport, and cut gender equality programmes. His anti-gender stance, which targets abortion and LGBTI+ rights in particular, also shaped this latest election campaign. Trump emphasised his pro-life stance, and spent heavily on anti-trans advertising. His new administration is expected to further restrict gender-affirming treatment, ban trans women from women’s sports, and weaken anti-discrimination protections.

The ripple effects of anti-gender politics

Trump’s policies ripple outwards to influence international anti-gender movements. In contemporary Turkey, religio-conservative anti-gender civil society actors such as the Turkish Family Assemblies, Grand Family Platform and Islamist media outlets like Yeni Akit and Yeni Şafak are increasingly contesting 'gender ideology'. To them, gender ideology is a pejorative term they can operationalise to oppose sexual and reproductive rights, sex education, and LGBTI+ rights, and to deny gendered violence against women.

Turkish Islamist anti-gender actors associate gender ideology with threats to the heterosexual family and moral order. These reactionary groups, aligned with the authoritarian Islamist government, seek solidarity and interreligious cooperation beyond Turkey's borders. They see themselves as part of a global struggle against the liberal international order.

A transnational anti-gender front

Trump’s latest victory emboldens these actors, signalling that their agendas are legitimate and achievable. This symbolic validation fuels political imaginaries of a transnational anti-gender front. It aims to foster cross-border alliances across diverse contexts, from Russia and Hungary to the US. It also advocates for state support for transnational networks united in opposition to gender ideology, such as the UN Group of Friends of the Family. Turkish Islamist actors reference Trump's victory to strengthen their arguments for an international anti-gender front.

Trump’s re-election has given conservative actors impetus to reinforce their links with global anti-gender networks

Transnationally, anti-gender movements craft narratives that oppose gender equality norms. They position gender ideology as a global elite project driven by international institutions, cultural industries and LGBT lobbies who allegedly infiltrate and destabilise societies. Resisting gender ideology, they argue, requires more than just national-level resistance. It demands a unified international response; a shared front across countries and regions.

Anti-gender movements amplify their impact by creating alliances. They link cross-border electoral victories to domestic ultra-conservative agendas, and to broader illiberal coalitions. In Turkey, Islamist anti-gender actors blend universalist and culturally resonant narratives. They frame gender equality as alien to Islamic values and emphasise the importance of international anti-gender collaboration to reshape the liberal order. Trump’s re-election has given conservative actors in Turkey impetus to reinforce their links with global anti-gender networks and states. They regard the recent rise of anti-genderism in the US as exemplary. The result is the erosion of gender equality, and of democracy.

Anti-gender interpretations of Trump's victory

Turkey's Islamist anti-gender actors celebrated Trump’s electoral victory, interpreting it variously

• as a sign of a global victory over LGBTI+ rights and a rejection of global elites who threaten traditional values and sovereignty
• as the 'morally pure' people's 'righteous' opposition to 'gender ideology'
• as a magic formula for winning elections.

In the wake of Trump's win, the conservative national newspaper Yeni Şafak claimed:

The world will never be the same again; globalists have lost their last war

This quote, in fact, comes from Russian anti-gender activists, specifically from political expert and Vladimir Putin mentor Aleksandr Dugin. Anti-gender actors in Turkey regard their Russian counterparts as key allies with whom to advance their agenda.

By 'globalists' these actors mean Western elites, who they accuse of promoting liberal, cosmopolitan values. These values, they claim, threaten national sovereignty, traditional culture, and local ways of life. They believe that Trump's re-election signifies a fundamental shift in the power dynamics shaping the global gender wars. His win could redefine how gender-related conflicts are articulated, politicised, and contested in the transnational arena.

Moreover, Islamist anti-gender actors interpret Trump’s return to power as the embodiment of populist resistance to gender ideology. They see it as the will of the people triumphing over globalists’ imposition of liberal values. Framing anti-LGBTI+ policies as a moral imperative and a populist mandate, they argue that Trump’s success demonstrates the political power of championing traditional family values.

Winning elections by resisting 'gender ideology'

This also enables Turkish anti-gender actors to present Trump’s rejection of LGBTI+ rights as a route to winning elections. Indeed, this logic has already influenced Turkey’s domestic electoral campaigns. During the 2023 general elections in particular, Turkey's ruling AKP Party exploited homophobia to bolster their authoritarian rhetoric.

By associating Trump’s victory with global resistance against gender ideology, Islamist Turkish media pit the 'virtuous' populace against a 'corrupt' elite. They believe Trump’s anti-LGBTI+ policies reinforce a global anti-gender front.

In November 2024, one Yeni Şafak columnist claimed

With Trump’s victory, men won’t get pregnant anymore

This is a prime example of Turkish Islamist anti-gender actors' belief in Trump as a bulwark against gender ideology. These actors are hoping Trump’s leadership will embolden reactionary movements worldwide to roll back LGBTI+ rights.

Anti-gender interconnectedness

The growing power of religio-conservative, anti-gender rhetoric is not unique to Turkey. Nor will the effects of Trump’s victory on the intensification of anti-gender policies be confined to the US. Today, anti-gender movements are increasingly interconnected. Their effects resonate throughout the world, creating a unified bloc capable of transnational influence.

Recognising these transnational dynamics is essential to accurately assess the implications of Trump’s 2024 victory for progressive gender norms and liberal human rights frameworks.

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