Neo-Fascist Anti-Gender Education

Overview & Synopsis

This paper aims to understand American 'neofascist anti-gender education' by firstly contextualizing it within international campaigns, and secondly reporting on US specificities. Using a Critical Discourse Analysis of 1629 US state-level bill submissions from 2018 to 2024, this paper reports on a study querying (1) which neofascist anti-gender education elements are being introduced in American legislation, (2) where and when, and (3) how and why. The study showed a coordinated mobilization that initially began installing neofascist anti-gender education in 2018 through smaller state-level senate and house bills and files in politically enabling Republican-governed states targeting restrictions on transgender students' access to information in primary school classrooms, gender-aligned bathrooms, and athletics. Increasingly, bills expanded in number, frequency, size, and punitive reach against various students, education professionals and citizens. Although initial anti-gender education bills targeted critical gender education approaches, by 2024, the bills expanded to weaken other gender-related education and democratic structures.