CCINDLE EU

Illegitimate Care Beyond Activism: Queer Parenthood as Everyday Resistance? | CCINDLE Warsaw Equality Parade, June 2022, with the Palace of Culture and Science visible in the background Can existence be resistance? In Poland queer parenthood remains largely unthinkable and care within rainbow families illegitimate – yet for many it is a lived reality. What does it mean to care, parent, and sustain kinship under conditions of […]

But what if we shift the frame from the ‘social sterilisation’ of these obstacles to the practices and creativity that allow queer parents to live and raise children despite this context? In this way, existence becomes a form of resistance:

The recent #CCINDLE blog from Julia Palejko at the University of Amsterdam explores the barriers for LGBTQ parents in Poland, with deficiencies in legal and structural support exacerbating the state homophobia and widespread social prejudice.

Register for the First Feminist Futures Workshop: Feminist Responses to Anti-Democratic Politics | CCINDLE When: Friday 20th March 2026, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm Where: CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest. Budapest Site Nador u. 15, Auditorium A Across Europe and beyond, feminist actors are at the forefront of resisting anti-gender and anti-democratic movements. What strategies are working? What challenges are emerging? And how can feminist futures be collectively imagined and […]

Read about the event’s programme and speakers here, and register by the deadline of the 15th March to join us in Hungary and explore the challenges of feminist resistance to anti-gender and anti-democratic forces:

It is less than two weeks until the first #CCINDLE Feminist Futures Workshop, hosted by the CEU Democracy Institute of the Central European University in Budapest on the 20th March, and registration is still open.

Reflections on the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium | CCINDLE Attendees at the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium The Royal Society in London was founded in 1660, and is the world’s oldest continuously existing scientific establishment. 365 years later, guests from around the world gathered in its beautiful Wolfson Rooms to explore a very contemporary set of issues under the stern eyes of statues and oil […]

Dr Agata Gurzawska from VERITY. You can read the full piece below:

Thanks again to all of the Symposium’s speakers, Dr Silvia Diaz Fernandez from #CCINDLE, Dr Hayley Watson, Dr Alba Morales Tirado from the Centre for Protecting Women Online at the Open University, Giles Herdale from Herdale Digital Consulting, Dr Orla Drummond from the SALVUS project, and

In a new blog, Alexander Murphy reflects on the themes of an invigorating event which explored the impacts of AI, digital investigations, social media, and anti-gender political movements on contemporary #GBV.

Last year, #CCINDLE and Trilateral Research gathered guests from around the world for the Gender-Based Violence and Online Harms Symposium at the Royal Society in London.

Illegitimate Care Beyond Activism: Queer Parenthood as Everyday Resistance? | CCINDLE Warsaw Equality Parade, June 2022, with the Palace of Culture and Science visible in the background Can existence be resistance? In Poland queer parenthood remains largely unthinkable and care within rainbow families illegitimate – yet for many it is a lived reality. What does it mean to care, parent, and sustain kinship under conditions of […]

drive for civil partnerships was watered down over two years of closed-door negotiations with coalition partners. For queer people in Poland, parenthood is beset by barriers that make continuing an inherent form of political resistance. Read the blog in full here:

As the country recovers from an ideological onslaught against LGBTQ rights under the previous government, which led to almost a third of Polish territory being declared an ‘LGBT ideology free zone’ by local authorities, hopes for relief from the Tusk government have been disappointed as the

A new #CCINDLE blog from Julia Palejko at the University of Amsterdam dives into the lived reality of queer parenthood in Poland.

Register for the First Feminist Futures Workshop: Feminist Responses to Anti-Democratic Politics | CCINDLE When: Friday 20th March 2026, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm Where: CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest. Budapest Site Nador u. 15, Auditorium A Across Europe and beyond, feminist actors are at the forefront of resisting anti-gender and anti-democratic movements. What strategies are working? What challenges are emerging? And how can feminist futures be collectively imagined and […]

Check out the event programme, and join us in Hungary to explore the cutting edge of research on the feminist responses to anti-democratic and anti-gender mobilisations resistance in the most challenging of circumstances. Read more and register below:

number of special guests including Andrea Krizsán, Conny Roggeband, Silvia Díaz Fernández, Saskia Brechenmacher, Tatev Hovhannisyan, Tània Verge, Ulrika Westerlund, Bernadett Szél, Natalia Broniarczyk, and Viktória Radványi.

We are pleased to announce that the first #CCINDLE Feminist Futures Workshop is set to take place in Budapest on the 20th March, with expert discussion and exchange on the dynamics of anti-gender and anti-democratic politics, courtesy of our partners at the Central European University and a

New CCINDLE Evidence Bites Released | CCINDLE The CCINDLE evidence bite series provides short, accessible summaries of our research findings, with practical takeaway messages for activists, campaigners, and practitioners. If you are interested in how anti-gender and anti-democratic forces operate around the world, how they intersect, and how feminist responses can counter their harms, check out the latest additions: Look out for more […]

nations, and what makes political parties foreground gender issues in their manifestos:

Read the latest additions on how anti-gender politics draw on European legacies of capitalism, colonialism, and fascism, how anti-gender mobilisations in Belgium are centring trans issues, the nature of ‘feminist knowledge production’, how anti-gender actors operate in historically progressive

A new batch of #CCINDLE evidence bites give quick summaries and practical takeaways from our research on anti-gender and anti-democratic movements.

Map of feminist experiments with democracy | CCINDLE Reimagining Democracy: Feminist Experiments Across Europe Activists across Europe are reimagining democracy from the ground up. Faced with hostile institutions, restrictive laws, and deepening inequalities, feminist movements are building alternative democratic practices rooted in care, solidarity, and collective liberation. From grassroots abortion support networks to trans-inclusive healthcare, from border solidarity to intersectional coalitions, activists create […]

Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment mingles with anti-gender, anti-immigrant and other aspects of policy rhetoric around the world:

#LGBTQ+HistoryMonth is running throughout February in the UK, and at other times internationally. #CCINDLE works to identify modes of resistance amidst anti-gender and anti-democratic mobilisations, and you can see a cross-section of these here on our interactive map.

It notes the preoccupations with ‘gender ideology’, traditional family structures, and trans rights that unite these disparate groups. Access the full article via our website: ccindle.org/wp-conte...

A recent @CCINDLE article from elena pavan, Aurora Perego, and Matteo Scianna from the Università di Trento looks at Facebook and Instagram posts from right-wing, religious and anti-trans organisations across the Italian anti-gender ecosystem.

#LGBTQHistoryMonth is underway in the UK, but trends in anti-gender, anti-democratic and other exclusionary modes of politics are global.

Beyond Survival: Civil Society Strategies of Resilience and Resistance in Hungary | CCINDLE In a remarkable display of democratic resistance and solidarity, this year we witnessed the largest-ever Budapest Pride march, countering a governmental ban imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration. Approximately 200,000 citizens came together, standing firm for fundamental democratic values, including the right to peaceful assembly and LGBTQ+ rights. This historic march marked a powerful democratic moment, showcasing the resilience of Hungarian civil society against anti-gender and anti-democratic politics. Set against anti-gender and anti-democratic politics, our research in CCINDLE into feminist civil society activism in Hungary reveals innovative strategies that activists use to navigate autocratic pressures. Drawing from in-depth interviews and focus groups, we highlight how activists rely on dualities in their operations to maximize impact and reach more people. Specifically, we identified three such adaptive strategies: duality in structure, duality in access, and duality in framing. One effective approach among civil society organisations is what we call duality in structure. Here, organizations maintain two parallel structures: one formal, institutionalized wing, and one informal, grassroots counterpart. The structured branch typically engages with official institutions, securing legitimacy, funding, and the ability to provide essential services directly to their communities. Meanwhile, the grassroots wing remains independent, embracing a more radical, mobilization-focused approach – sometimes in an uninstitutionalized format. As one of our interviewees explained: [In the beginning] we provided funding, which was also part of the infrastructure in a sense—we very consciously supported the movement in finding its own form. […] They truly operate as a very grassroots, informal organization, which makes them much less exposed. I believe they are genuinely independent. I would rather emphasize their freedom and highlight that they are really able to represent women's experiences without any kind of compromise. The second duality—duality in access—centers around feminist activists’ deliberate strategy of embedding feminist ideals within broader, intersecting social movements. Some organizations (and also some individuals) strategically position themselves to operate effectively in multiple circles without constant conflict. This strategy aims at creating balance and fostering harmonious connections between different perspectives, potentially fostering broader alliances amongst civil society organizations and movements. The third adaptive strategy observed among feminist activists is the duality in framing. This duality involves activists selectively modulating their language, identity labels, and public positioning based on the audience and the political context. Given Hungary’s politicized environment, organizations sometimes intentionally downplay explicitly feminist terminology publicly to maintain a broader appeal and protect themselves from targeted repression, while maintaining radical, feminist messaging internally. For instance, certain feminist-led organizations consciously avoid using explicitly feminist language externally to ensure broader societal acceptance and operational continuity. This careful framing is particularly important for organizations providing essential services, as overly explicit feminist language might alienate potential allies or beneficiaries uncomfortable with politicized terms. Conversely, other groups adopt overtly radical framing to clearly assert their feminist stance, leveraging bold, explicit rhetoric to galvanize activist communities and challenge oppressive societal norms openly. The Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest at night Rather than solely focusing on policy outcomes, Hungarian feminist activists emphasize resilience, community solidarity, emotional support, and symbolic victories. Achievements therefore, are redefined through subjective collective experiences rather than external policy changes alone. Feminist activists continuously reinterpret challenges as acts of resistance, creating powerful narratives that inspire continued mobilization even amid setbacks. The recent Budapest Pride exemplifies this dynamic, as despite direct governmental attempts at suppression activists successfully organized the largest Pride demonstration in the city’s history. This event symbolizes a crucial shift in how democratic movements interpret their accomplishments—not merely by immediate political change, but through symbolic resistance, visibility, solidarity, and the unyielding assertion of democratic rights. Hungarian civil society activists show resilience, adaptability, and creativity through the three dualities of structure, access, and framing. Their ability to sustain activism under restrictive conditions—vividly illustrated by the determination behind Budapest Pride—demonstrates the persistent strength of civil society and its capacity for transformative impact even in increasingly autocratic contexts. Author: Mirjam Sagi, Central European University. 15th July 2025

It’s #LGBTQHistoryMonth this month, and a chance to reflect on the role of activism in social change. Last year, a #CCINDLE blog from Mirjam Sagi at the Central European University noted the power of Budapest Pride in the face of attempted government repression:

This #LGBTQ+HistoryMonth is a good opportunity to revisit this publication from our partner Rylan Verlooy, on the dynamics of anti-trans and anti-gender activism in the historically progressive context of Belgium: ccindle.org/wp-conte...

The #CCINDLE project explores how anti-gender and anti-democratic forces intersect and transcend borders, and opposition to LGBTQ+ rights is a frequent corollary of these movements.

Section 28: What was it and how did it affect LGBT+ people? The law existed from 1988 - 2003 and affected LGBT+ people. Here's what you need to know about it

This week, #CCINDLE will be highlighting resources to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and reflect on the impact of these legacies. Learn more about Section 28 here:

‘Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life.’

This law led to persecution and protest, yet its formal overturning took decades.

In the UK February is #LGBTQ+HistoryMonth, marking the 2003 abolition of the Section 28 policy which was introduced by the UK government in 1988. This law banned ‘the promotion of homosexuality’ in schools, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher stating that:

Anti-gender interventions in knowledge production: the role of new academic institutions  | CCINDLE In recent years, efforts to change school curricula, university research, and media content have become a key element of anti-gender politics. Analysis of seven EU countries in the CCINDLE project (D2.5 Report on anti-gender mobilisations’ knowledge production) show that many of these efforts are repressive: they try to cut funding or accreditation for gender studies, […]

These organisations mirror academic institutions, creating pipelines of content and personnel which advance political aims and subvert traditional academic principles. Read the full piece on our website:

One recent #CCINDLE blog from Elzbieta Korolczuk explores the new institutions working to reshape knowledge production along anti-gender and authoritarian lines, diving into three examples from Hungary, Poland, and France.