Edinburgh Napier University

  During the event, the RESIST Project Team and our guest speakers led discussions on queer-feminist resistances to “anti-gender” mobilizations in and across Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Russia – four distinct national case studies that intersect at a transnational level through migration patterns, recently amplified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the 2020 and 2025 presidential elections in Belarus ( Filep, 2024).

Watch the video recording of the first part of the event on the RESSIT YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@resistproject

Direct link here:
https://youtu.be/tQI26bd2B7U

ZENODO record:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15016382

While studies show that “anti-gender” and anti-immigration mobilizations are often closely intertwined ( RESIST Project Team, 2024), issues related to gender identity and sexuality may be deprioritized by women and queer persons amid immediate survival challenges, such as migrant status, housing, employment, and health. Even in contexts not immediately threatened by war or political repression, multiply marginalized persons might be forced to choose between the ideals of gender and sexual diversity and pragmatic solutions related to other identity positions, e.g. living with a physical disability or experiencing homelessness ( Kulpa and Kania, 2024). Still, addressing and resisting “anti-gender” violence remains vital to queer-feminist movements both within and across Eastern European nations, with migration opening the possibility of cross-national collaboration. The dynamics of de- and reprioritization invite critical reflection, along with the internal tensions stemming from individual intersectional identities and the patterns of solidarity and animosity that develop across borders, migratory routes, and communities. Together, these factors create a complex landscape of displacement and belonging, shaping the experiences of individuals navigating “anti-gender” politics in the region.

Starting with a presentation of findings from the RESIST Project’s Polish and Belarusian cases, we open the floor for a broader discussion on resistances to “anti-gender” mobilizations in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Russia and transnationally along migratory routes. By combining panel presentations with free-flowing ideation workshop and experience-sharing sessions, we created a space of creative and respectful discussion.

This event was co-organised by the RESIST Project, the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Edinburgh Napier University.

Individual Presentation Titles:
Adrianna Zabrzewska (RESIST Project, Edinburgh Napier University), Understanding ‘Anti-gender’ Politics Across Europe: An Overview of the RESIST Project.

Ekaterina Filep (RESIST Project, Université de Fribourg), Lived Experiences and Resistances to the ‘Anti-gender’ Mobilisations in Belarus.

Roberto Kulpa (RESIST Project, Edinburgh Napier University), Lived Experiences and Resistances to the ‘Anti-gender’ Mobilisations in Poland.

Olga Sasunkevich (University of Gothenburg), The frames of war: state-led homophobia in Russia and the war against Ukraine and the West in the context of transnational anti-gender mobilisation.

Olga Plakhotnik (University of Greifswald), Maria Mayerchyk (Rhine-Waal University), Between “Gender” and “Anti-Gender”: (Trans) Necropolitics at the Buffer Periphery.

Sarian Jarosz (Migration Consortium/ Queer Without Borders), ‘Queer’ and at the ‘green border’: LGBTQI+ displacement and intersectional solidarity at Polish borders with Belarus and Ukraine after 2021.