The veiling experiences of two LGBTI+ women in Turkey open questions about the discursive constructions of femininity, masculinity, piousness, LGBTI+ secularity, and how these are used in political rhetoric.

Despite the authoritarian atmosphere, the contemporary feminist and queer movements in Poland are becoming more diverse, informal, intersectional, and focused on countering misogyny and homophobia in locally defined contexts.

What does a police raid on a bathhouse in Cairo have in common with a police raid on a queer rave in Berlin? Through an examination of two case studies of homophobic violence in Cairo and Berlin, separated by temporal and spatial dimensions, the architecture of homophobia employed by state and media is revealed.

In the past months, Turkey has prosecuted students who have displayed rainbow flags in Istanbul, indicating a pattern of state-induced political homophobia and violence against marginalized groups, together with the motivation to delegitimize the political opposition in Turkey and elsewhere.

Israel's embrace of far-right politics rendered the lives of the marginalized Jewish population and Palestinians ever more precarious with forces that promote women’s and queer rights, in tension with forces promoting misogyny and homophobia, all contributing to the contemporary far-right political landscape in Israel.

Over the past decade, activists and CSOs have argued with conservative and religious groups in Ukraine over the introduction of the so-called “comprehensive sexuality education” in Ukrainian schools.

Statements we encounter in conversations about left-wing identity politics which it is important to respond to.

Against the backdrop of political homophobia and anti-feminism in recent years, a two-day digital conference entitled “Queer Feminist Perspectives on Political Homophobia and Anti-Feminism in the Middle East and Europe” was held in September 2021.

We want to create a space for power-critical engagement with debates around identity politics.

 Lou Herbst talks to Ed Greve about the opportunities and limitations of an anti-discriminatory identity politics, intersectionality and what ultimately leads to a divided society.