With LGBT Pride month under way in many countries around the world, the corporate-sponsored celebrations that have characterized the festival in recent years are likely to give way to something more reminiscent of the original Pride, which followed the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City.
This change should come as no surprise amid a global escalation of threats to LGBT rights and the retreat in corporate engagement on LGBT causes. While many activists and community members may welcome this return to the political urgency of Pride’s roots, those outside the LGBT community should also take note. In many cases, the assault on LGBT rights is directly linked to the broader erosion of fundamental norms of liberal democracy, providing compelling evidence that such policies serve as warnings of accelerating democratic backsliding.
Anti-democratic measures
Threats to LGBT rights are increasing around the world, often hand-in-hand with anti-democratic measures. In April, Hungary passed a constitutional amendment that effectively banned Pride marches and other public events by LGBT organizations under the guise of protecting children. The amendment entrenches previous legislation prohibiting the ‘depiction or promotion’ of homosexuality to minors by asserting that children’s rights may supersede the right to assembly. The amendment also extends to a series of anti-LGBT measures in recent years under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, including a ban on legal gender recognition for transgender people and a prohibition on adoption by same-sex couples.
Russia has implemented even more draconian measures against LGBT rights. Last year brought the first arrests under a 2023 legal ruling by the Russian Supreme Court that deemed the ‘international LGBT movement’ an ‘extremist organization’. The judgment effectively outlawed LGBT activism rendering anyone connected to the community vulnerable to criminal charges.
Authorities have since used this ruling to block websites, prosecute users of dating apps and ban LGBT representations in the media. Several gay club owners have been detained and at least one man died in custody after being arrested for operating a travel agency catering to gay clientele. This builds on a 2022 expanded ban on ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations’ which now applies to both minors and adults, effectively outlawing all public expression pertaining to LGBT issues.
Despite global trends towards decriminalization, some countries are enacting laws that explicitly criminalize the private conduct of LGBT individuals. In April 2024, Iraq passed a law imposing a prison sentence of up to 15 years for those convicted of consensual same-sex activity. The law also bans organizations promoting ‘sexual deviancy’, a term so broadly defined that rights groups warn it could be used to shut down any LGBT-focused organization.
In Ghana, parliament recently passed a bill criminalizing both same-sex relations and advocacy for LGBT rights, with penalties ranging from six months to 15 years in prison. Though awaiting the president’s signature, the bill has already created a climate of fear and restricted public discourse for LGBT people in the West African democracy.
Discrimination by executive order
Against this backdrop, a sweeping series of anti-LGBT executive orders signed by President Donald Trump in the early months of his second term confirms a similarly striking regression. On his first day back in office, Trump issued an order seeking to end federal legal recognition of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people. This would allow discrimination across employment, education, housing and access to healthcare. Subsequent orders eliminated the ‘X’ marker on US passports, reinstated and expanded the ban on transgender people serving in the military and restricted access to care for transgender minors.
The scope and speed of these executive actions reveal a coordinated strategy to not just undermine existing protections but to fundamentally redefine federal policy in ways that exclude LGBT people – particularly transgender Americans – from full participation in civic life. Meanwhile, Trump continues to undermine democratic norms, whether ignoring judicial orders, attacking independent media or weaponizing government agencies against political opponents.
Research shows that scapegoating sexual and gender minorities often signals broader threats to democracy. A study by my colleagues and myself at the Williams Institute show that attacks on LGBT people and their rights can precede democratic decline. Countries that have a lower level of social acceptance towards LGBT people are more likely to be weaker democracies or authoritarian regimes.
These trends are not coincidental. Autocrats frequently target minority rights to exploit social divisions or distract from political or economic crises. LGBT people – already among the mostmarginalized – are often cast as threats to a national identity, providing a broader context for exclusion and repression.
Anti-LGBT rhetoric and laws can be both a bellwether of autocratic tendencies and a springboard to further democratic backsliding by undermining core freedoms of association and expression. When the government can censor LGBT content in media and education, they create mechanisms for broader censorship. Surveillance of LGBT people and their allies often evolves into tools to be used against any opposition group. For example, the Hungarian law banning LGBT Pride permits the use of facial recognition software to identify participants, who may face fines of up to €500.
This use of technology could soon be deployed against protesters more broadly. Although Trump’s domestic policies are unsurprising given his campaign rhetoric, their impact causes ripples globally. US regression on LGBT rights carries both symbolic and material consequences for the rest of the world.
By eliminating all foreign assistance and human rights programming supporting LGBT communities abroad, withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council and advancing domestic policies that roll back LGBT rights, America now gives licence to autocrats to escalate threats to both LGBT people and democracy itself. Indeed, as Viktor Orbán recently noted: ‘Now, with the change in America, the winds have shifted in our favour.’
Taken together, countries are stepping up actions that endanger LGBT people at the same time democratic institutions are being weakened. Studies show that robust mobilization by civil society can be a significant bulwark against anti-LGBT laws and democratic erosion.