Gender Identity and the Cultural Cleavage: How Traditional, Authoritarian, and Nationalist Political Groups Oppose Transgender and Gender Non-conforming Rights in the European Parliament

Abstract

This thesis examines how Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Traditional, Authoritarian, and Nationalist (TAN) groups European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) as well as Identity and Democracy (ID), opposed Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) rights during plenary debates in the 9th European Parliament (EP) 2019–2024, and how this opposition was perceived by former and current MEPs. Based on neo-cleavage theory, with complementary insights from homonationalism and trans-exclusionary radical feminism, three comparative abductive thematic analyses were conducted using plenary debate and interview data. The analysis revealed that both the ECR and ID groups align in consistently opposing TGNC rights. These findings are presented in six themes, characterizing TGNC inclusion as ideological imposition, minimizing their relevance, opposing EU-level action for national sovereignty, framing TGNC education as indoctrination and a threat to children, framing TGNC existence as threatening, and, in ID’s case, linking TGNC rights to anti-immigration narratives. ECR MEPs framed their opposition through more structured arguments, while ID MEPs used more populist and xenophobic language. Interviews with former and current MEPs confirm these findings, revealing that this opposition is shaped by a cultural cleavage. Some interviewed MEPs pointed to a growing influence of TAN groups within the EP. Concerns were also raised about the potential cooperation between such groups and the European People’s Party (EPP), especially after the 2024 European Union (EU) elections. Overall, this study provides empirical insights into how TGNC rights are contested within the EU and offers findings that support neo-cleavage theory.