Constructing European Union Identity through LGBT Equality Promotion: Crises and Shifting Othering Processes in the European Union Enlargement

Abstract

The European Union sees itself as a beacon of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friendliness and seeks to promote these norms in its external relations. However, such identity claims and norm promotion are inherently political and should be critically examined as such. Taking a relational approach, this article conceptualises and examines the Othering processes within the European Union enlargement to highlight the political nature of what is often described as a technocratic process. Through exploring the triangulation of the European Union enlargement, Othering processes and crises, it is argued that (1) the use of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights as a measure of Europeanness is based on a longer tradition of defining the European Union’s symbolic boundaries, but that (2) it is in perceived moments of crisis that the European Union redraws and strengthens the boundaries between the Self and the different types of Others through changing combinations of Othering mechanisms. Finally, the article also argues that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights promotion is not only a tool in constructing the European Union’s identity but also a source of an identity crisis, as is shown by the rise of anti-gender politics.