The “best interest of a child” in anti-gender mobilizations: framing protection, mobilizing fear

Abstract

Researchers of anti-gender mobilizations emphasize the central role of child well-being narratives, yet this aspect remains underexplored. This study addresses that gap by focusing on how the “best interest of a child” is strategically used in anti-gender campaigns across Denmark, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. Using framing theory we analyze how this frame is constructed, emotionally charged, and politically instrumentalized. Based on a Critical Frame Analysis of 128 documents, we show that the “best interest of a child” frame shifts across contexts and is mobilized to serve different ideological aims, while retaining a stable rhetorical core: the assertion that children must be protected. A child appears as a rights-bearing subject or passive object, biologically fixed or easily influenced, and at risk of sexualization or brainwashing. Our findings highlight the narrative’s flexibility and internal contradictions, offering a novel lens for understanding the discursive dynamics of anti-gender mobilizations.