Variation in the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ equality in EU countries between advancements and oppositions: policies, actors, arenas

In 2020, the European Commission adopted an LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 “addressing the inequalities and challenges affecting LGBTIQ people, in order to move towards a Union of Equality''. The EU strategy is one of the results of the "Europeanization" of and through LGBTIQ+ rights, enhanced by the Recommendation 2010/5 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. From 2010 onwards, LGBTIQ+ equality policies have been entering the institutional agendas in all the EU countries, gaining visibility and triggering protests in the public sphere and within institutions. Nevertheless, the variation in the trajectories of LGBTIQ+ policies in the EU27 and the reasons behind this divided situation have received so far little attention in the emerging literature on LGBTIQ+ equality policies. To fill this gap, LGBTIQ+POL proposes a set of mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to cover the multidimensionality of the factors explaining the variation in the LGBTIQ+ policies’ adoption at EU member state level. The major expectation of the project is to perform a longitudinal cross-national analysis on EU27 member states from 2010 onwards through both existing and newly built original datasets, and theory-generating analysis of selected case studies. Ultimately, through the study of the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ policies, it will assess the determinants of LGBTIQ+ equality in the EU27. Special attention will be paid to Italy as a specific case study presenting a critical configuration regarding the intensification of LGBTIQ+ policy agendas, the emergence of strongly politicized anti-LGBTIQ+ movements, and a sharpening of conflicts within the institutional arena. The project is structured around concrete and innovative research objectives and aims at: defining the context of LGBTIQ+ policies and identifying the legal, social and political dimensions of LGBTIQ+ equality among the EU27 member states; mapping and analyzing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of anti-LGBTIQ+ protests in the EU27 through a protest events analysis; scrutinizing the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ policies in a selected number of European countries, through the analysis of the policymaking process in the parliamentary arena, in which political actors, with different roles and preferences, are involved. Finally, the project will unveil the influence of the multiple factors investigated and, based on existing and newly generated data, it will assess the determinants of the variation in the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ equality in the EU. The LGBTIQ+POL researchers will be committed to the open science’s principles, not only providing open access resources (i.e., datasets and reports) and publications, but also implementing a comprehensive method of good practices that improves quality, efficiency and responsiveness of research, and accessibility to different targets such as scientific, policy and public audiences.

In 2020, the European Commission adopted an LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025 “addressing the inequalities and challenges affecting LGBTIQ people, in order to move towards a Union of Equality''. The EU strategy is one of the results of the "Europeanization" of and through LGBTIQ+ rights, enhanced by the Recommendation 2010/5 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. From 2010 onwards, LGBTIQ+ equality policies have been entering the institutional agendas in all the EU countries, gaining visibility and triggering protests in the public sphere and within institutions. Nevertheless, the variation in the trajectories of LGBTIQ+ policies in the EU27 and the reasons behind this divided situation have received so far little attention in the emerging literature on LGBTIQ+ equality policies. To fill this gap, LGBTIQ+POL proposes a set of mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to cover the multidimensionality of the factors explaining the variation in the LGBTIQ+ policies’ adoption at EU member state level. The major expectation of the project is to perform a longitudinal cross-national analysis on EU27 member states from 2010 onwards through both existing and newly built original datasets, and theory-generating analysis of selected case studies. Ultimately, through the study of the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ policies, it will assess the determinants of LGBTIQ+ equality in the EU27. Special attention will be paid to Italy as a specific case study presenting a critical configuration regarding the intensification of LGBTIQ+ policy agendas, the emergence of strongly politicized anti-LGBTIQ+ movements, and a sharpening of conflicts within the institutional arena. The project is structured around concrete and innovative research objectives and aims at: defining the context of LGBTIQ+ policies and identifying the legal, social and political dimensions of LGBTIQ+ equality among the EU27 member states; mapping and analyzing the quantitative and qualitative aspects of anti-LGBTIQ+ protests in the EU27 through a protest events analysis; scrutinizing the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ policies in a selected number of European countries, through the analysis of the policymaking process in the parliamentary arena, in which political actors, with different roles and preferences, are involved. Finally, the project will unveil the influence of the multiple factors investigated and, based on existing and newly generated data, it will assess the determinants of the variation in the institutionalization of LGBTIQ+ equality in the EU. The LGBTIQ+POL researchers will be committed to the open science’s principles, not only providing open access resources (i.e., datasets and reports) and publications, but also implementing a comprehensive method of good practices that improves quality, efficiency and responsiveness of research, and accessibility to different targets such as scientific, policy and public audiences.