How the anti-gender movement spread across Europe

The Hate Review

Serbia

Country Group: Advanced entrenchment

Key indicators in 2025: Contamination 3.00 / 4  ·  Impact 3.00 / 4

The trajectory of anti-gender activity in Serbia over the past decades has been one of gradual escalation and institutional consolidation. The movement began as episodic, church-led street opposition — expressed through violence at early Pride events and systematic Pride bans between 2009 and 2013. A decisive turning point came in 2017, when the first coordinated “gender ideology” disinformation campaign produced a concrete political result and established a template that has since been deployed repeatedly. The 2021 legislative package and the EuroPride crisis of 2022 demonstrated the movement’s continued capacity to bring tens of thousands onto the streets. Since 2021, the centre of gravity has shifted from reactive mobilisation to proactive institutional entrenchment: anti-gender actors now occupy a government ministry, have secured a judicial suspension of major equality legislation, and operate through a networked media infrastructure anchored by Russian state media.

Serbia — Anti-gender timeline 2000–2026
Timeline of anti-gender activity in Serbia
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
2003
2004
2005
2006
P
2007
2008
2009
OPMA
2010
M
2011
P
2012
P
2013
PMT
O
2014
MT
2015
MT
2016
MT
MT
2017
MT
ODT
M
2018
MT
MT
2019
MT
M
2020
2021
MT
M
OI
LA
2022
MT
PA
PMT
2023
MT
M
2024
MT
PLA
P
2025
MT
OM
2026
MT
OM
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 Serbia