"The gender agenda": New strategies in Catholic fundamentalist framing of non-heterosexuality in Europe

Abstract

Catholic fundamentalists attempt to mobilize a social movement against the EU's antidiscrimination policies by engaging with feminist and other scientific theories. The framing strategies they employ will be studied through narrative analysis of different Catholic fundamentalist texts. A particular focus will be placed on the public statements of Pope Benedict XVI on homosexuality and on the anti-EU narrative "The Gender Revolution" by the German writer Gabriele Kuby. It is argued that in their discourses they use a specific framing strategy, namely to present themselves and (fundamentalist) Christianity as gender experts and preservers of European democracy.