How the anti-gender movement spread across Europe

The Hate Review

Czech Republic

Country Group: Contamination-led

Key indicators in 2025: Contamination 2.33 / 4  ·  Impact 1.78 / 4

The trajectory of anti-gender activity in the Czech Republic over the past twenty-five years has been one of steady professionalisation and gradual mainstreaming. The movement originated in the 1990s in Catholic pro-life networks operating at the margins of public life. Through the 2010s it expanded into a structured civil society ecosystem — centred on Aliance pro rodinu and Hnutí pro život — that developed lobbying capacity, international connections and a deliberately secular rhetorical register suited to a highly non-religious society. The pivotal moment came in 2018, when Petr Piťha’s viral sermon on the Istanbul Convention catapulted “gender ideology” into mainstream political discourse, triggering sustained parliamentary mobilisation that culminated in the Senate’s rejection of the Convention in January 2024. The movement has since achieved its most significant milestone: the formation in late 2025 of a governing coalition whose explicit agenda aligns with key anti-gender positions, marking a qualitative shift from influence to institutional presence.

Timeline of anti-gender activity in Czech Republic
Year Abortion & Reproductive Rights Sex & Relationship Education LGBTIQ+ Visibility Partnerships, Marriage & Family Legal Gender Recognition & Healthcare Istanbul Convention Language & Gender Studies Civil Society & Democratic Space
1990s
2000
2001
M
2002
M
2003
M
2004
M
2005
M
2006
M
2007
M
2008
M
2009
M
2010
M
OI
M
2011
M
A
M
M
2012
M
M
M
2013
M
AT
OM
DT
2014
M
M
2015
M
OM
2016
M
OM
2017
M
M
2018
M
A
PM
DT
2019
M
MIT
O
2020
2021
A
M
A
LA
2022
PM
L
2023
M
OM
PM
I
2024
M
A
OM
OAT
I
2025
M
M
P
2026
Actions by anti-gender actors
OOpposition to progressive law or regulation/policy PProposal or implementation of anti-gender law or regulation/policy LStrategic litigation
MProtest or demonstration IPetition or citizen initiative AAdvocacy campaign
DDisinformation campaign TTransnational interference

The evolution of the anti-gender movement in the Czech Republic