Election campaigns in 51+ countries used anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric

Politicians in at least 51 countries used homophobic and transphobic rhetoric in election campaigns over the past year, according to research by the NGO Outright International conducted in 60 countries and the EU. With LGBTQ+ visibility having increased over the past decade, more conservative politicians are using them as “scapegoats” for other problems, The Guardian reports.

At the same time, openly LGBTQ+ people ran for office last year in more than 36 countries—including, for the first time, in Botswana, Namibia, and Romania.

The rhetoric used has ranged from portraying LGBTQ+ identity as a “foreign threat” in the case of Georgia to condemning “gender ideology” in Hungary. Other examples have been found in Germany, El Salvador, Finland, Pakistan, Ghana, Indonesia, and the United States. The NGO describes this as a global, coordinated, and increasingly well-funded effort to undermine LGBTQ+ people.

At the same time, openly LGBTQ+ people ran for office last year in more than 36 countries, including for the first time in Botswana, Namibia, and Romania. While this does not necessarily mean they were elected, some countries saw an increase in openly LGBTQ+ people in public office—for example, Brazil, where the number has risen to 233.