Turkey’s Islamist and anti-gender figures celebrated Donald Trump’s recent victory in the 2024 US presidential election. They believe this will strengthen the growing cross-border backlash against gender equality and LGBTI+ rights. Didem Unal Abadi claims Trump’s return to power will certainly strengthen global anti-gender movements
US Elections and Resistance to Gender Ideology
With his decisive election victory, Donald Trump gained support from a diverse group of people, including Muslims, Latinos, black men, and working-class whites. Trump’s return to power will have global implications. The impact on the international balance of power, including gender politics, will be profound.
During his presidential term from 2016 to 2020, Trump enacted legislation that weakened reproductive rights, limited transgender representation in the military and sports, and cut gender equality programs. His anti-gender stance, particularly targeting abortion and LGBTI+ rights, also shaped the campaign. Trump has emphasized his pro-life stance and spent millions on anti-trans ads. His new government is expected to further restrict gender-affirming treatment, ban trans women from participating in female sports and weaken anti-discrimination protections.
The ripple effects of anti-gender politics
President Trump’s policies have spread outward, influencing international anti-gender movements. In contemporary Turkey, religiously conservative anti-gender civil society actors such as the Turkish Family Council, the Extended Family Platform, and Islamist media outlets such as Yeni Akit and Yeni Shafaq increasingly challenge “gender ideology.” chanting. For them, gender ideology is a pejorative term that can be operationalized to oppose reproductive rights, sex education, LGBTI+ rights, and deny gender-based violence against women.
Turkey’s Islamist anti-gender activists associate gender ideology with threats to the heterosexual family and moral order. These reactionary groups are aligned with the authoritarian Islamist government and seek solidarity and interfaith cooperation beyond Turkey’s borders. They see themselves as part of a global struggle against the liberal international order.
Anti-gender front across borders
Mr. Trump’s recent victory has encouraged these actors and demonstrated that their plans are legitimate and achievable. This symbolic validation stimulates the political imagination of transnational anti-gender fronts. It aims to foster cross-border alliances across diverse contexts, from Russia and Hungary to the United States. It also advocates state support for transnational networks that unite against gender ideology, such as the United Nations Association of Friends of the Family. Turkish Islamists are citing President Trump’s victory to strengthen their case for an international anti-gender front.
Trump’s re-election has spurred conservatives to strengthen ties with global anti-gender networks.
Transnational anti-gender movements create a narrative that opposes norms of gender equality. They position gender ideology as a global elite project promoted by international institutions, the cultural industry, and the LGBT lobby that allegedly permeates and destabilizes society. They argue that resisting gender ideology requires more than state-level resistance. It requires a unified international response. A common front that transcends countries and regions.
Anti-gender movements amplify their impact by forming alliances. They link cross-border electoral victories to domestic ultra-conservative policies and broader illiberal coalitions. In Turkey, Islamist anti-gender actors are blending universalism with culturally resonant narratives. They frame gender equality as alien to Islamic values and emphasize the importance of international anti-gender cooperation to reshape the liberal order. President Trump’s reelection has given Turkey’s conservative forces the momentum to strengthen ties with global anti-gender networks and the state. They consider the recent rise in anti-genderism in the United States to be exemplary. As a result, gender equality and democracy are eroded.
Anti-gender interpretation of President Trump’s victory
Turkey’s Islamist and anti-gender figures celebrated Trump’s election victory with various interpretations
It is a sign of a global victory for LGBTI+ rights, and represents the traditional opposition of “morally pure” people to “gender ideology” as a magic formula for winning elections. It is a rejection of global elites that threaten our values and sovereignty.
Following President Trump’s victory, the conservative national newspaper Yeni Shafak claimed:
The world will never be the same again. Globalists lost the last war
In fact, this quote comes from Russian anti-gender activists, specifically Alexander Dugin, a political expert and mentor to Vladimir Putin. Turkish anti-gender activists see Russian activists as important allies to advance their agenda.
By “globalists” we mean the Western elites that these actors accuse of promoting liberal, cosmopolitan values. These values, they argue, threaten national sovereignty, traditional culture and local ways of life. They believe Trump’s re-election signals a fundamental shift in the power relations shaping the global gender wars. His victory could redefine how gender-related conflicts are articulated, politicized, and contested in the transnational arena.
Furthermore, Islamist anti-gender actors interpret Trump’s return to power as the embodiment of populist resistance to gender ideology. They see it as the will of the people triumphing over the imposition of liberal values by globalists. They frame anti-LGBTI+ policies as a moral imperative and a populist mandate, arguing that Trump’s success proves his political ability to defend traditional family values.
Winning elections by resisting “gender ideology”
This also allows Turkey’s anti-gender activists to present President Trump’s rejection of LGBTI+ rights as a means to win the election. Indeed, this logic is already influencing electoral activity in Turkey. Especially during the 2023 general elections, Turkey’s ruling AKP party used homophobia to reinforce its authoritarian rhetoric.
Islamist Turkish media pitted “good” people against “corrupt” elites by linking Trump’s victory to global resistance to gender ideology. They believe that President Trump’s anti-LGBTI+ policies will strengthen the global anti-gender front.
In November 2024, one of Yeni Shafak’s columnists claimed:
Trump’s victory will make it impossible for men to get pregnant
This is a prime example of how Islamist anti-gender activists in Turkey believe in President Trump as a bulwark against gender ideology. These officials hope that the Trump leadership will embolden reactionary movements rolling back LGBTI+ rights around the world.
Anti-gender interconnectedness
The growing power of religiously conservative and anti-gender rhetoric is not unique to Türkiye. Furthermore, the impact of President Trump’s victory on strengthening anti-gender policies is not limited to the United States. Today, anti-gender movements are increasingly interconnected. Its influence reverberates around the world, forming a unified bloc with influence that transcends borders.
Recognizing these transnational power relations is essential to accurately assess the impact of President Trump’s victory in 2024 on progressive gender norms and liberal human rights frameworks.
