Unpacking “Gender Ideology” and the Global Right’s Antigender Countermovement

In July 2016, during a closed session with Polish bishops, Pope Francis stated, “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place. And one of these—I will call it clearly by its name—is [the ideology of] ‘gender.’” Several months later, in the Republic of Georgia, the pope publicly condemned gender discourse as the “great enemy” in a “global war” of ideas. Around the globe, religious and other conservative actors are intensifying their attacks on feminist and LGBTQ+ scholarship and activism, casting advocates as “gender feminists” promoting a radical “gender ideology.” Language deployed by the Vatican, such as gender…