• Turkey (Turkey currently ranks 149 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders world press freedom index for 2022. Erdogan has steadily co-opted institutions and eroded checks and balances. He has turned much of the media into a tool of state propaganda. He has, in effect, censored the internet. He has thrown many critics, including opposition leaders, into jail. He has sidelined rivals within the AK party. He has suborned the judiciary, using the courts to harass opponents…),
• Germany (a radical right-wing populist party entered the national parliament when the Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) became the third largest party in the Bundestag, giving it a powerful platform for speechmaking, increased media attention, and new federal funding for staff and campaigning about populist politics and intensifying its tirades against migrants.),
• Austria ( The Austria’s populist far-right Freedom Party, which was ousted from the national coalition government, has regained its previous momentum — and, according to recent polls, is now the strongest party in the small Alpine nation. The Party has adopted the populist, nativist right-wing rhetoric of its charismatic former leader, Joerg Haider and continues to hold hardline positions on migration.)…,
• And in Asia and Southern Asia, we should not exclude the recent political changes which herald the rise of radical right-wing dominance in Southeast Asian polities. In addition to India, particular examples are the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and….
In these economies, there is a growing authoritarian drift in politics- a number of illiberal trends – the use of legislative means to criminalise political opposition; the passing of socially conservative legislation; the increasing role of security agencies in political process; the growth of paramilitaries linked to right-wing parties; and the gutting of oversight institutions.
Some of these conservative regimes continue to see the use of race and religion as a political weapon. Even though the leaders have expressed their commitment to foster national unity, basic principles of equality and non-discrimination continue to be denied. This has led to greater animosity among different ethnic groups .
In the last three decades, protections for minorities and LGBT people’s rights have advanced rapidly in many countries and regions.
However, rising populist authoritarianism in these countries poses a significant threat to this progress because undermining minorities' rights and sexual freedom are often at the heart of repressive political projects. As these authoritarian regimes accrue power, the rights of LGBTQ+ and other minorities are being curtailed .
A notable rhetorical feature of the anti-gender movement is its use of human rights language to undermine LGBT rights, for example, by using religious freedom or parental rights as a basis for attacking minority rights. This political homophobia approach is the major threat to LGBT rights worldwide.
We should view the struggle for LGBT rights as part of a broader struggle against authoritarianism: a political regime founded on the erosion of human rights and freedoms, particularly of the most vulnerable groups.
