Editorial: “Sexual Rights” Group Seeks to Censor Conservative Voices

By | August 11, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 11 (C-Fam) Ipas, one of the most aggressive and single-minded pro-abortion organizations operating internationally, issued a call this week warning that “United States-based Christian nationalist groups are spending millions of dollars to influence anti-rights policy around the globe.”

By “rights,” they meant “LGBTQ+ rights and sexual and reproductive health and rights”—concepts that have never been agreed in any global human rights treaty or General Assembly consensus.

As conservative coalitions increase in reach and influence internationally, “sexual rights” activists are increasingly trying to marginalize and intimidate them, often does so in the name of “safety.”

Feminists complained when Katalin Novák, Hungary’s first female president spoke at the recent Women Deliver conference in Rwanda.  “Platforms such as Women Deliver should be safe spaces,” wrote a Ugandan “reproductive justice” advocate, who criticized the conference for “normalizing anti-rights groups’ access to spaces of women.”

Women Deliver presents itself as a bold, fearless, feminist voice engaging on controversial issues and holding governments to account.  On the other hand, the organization receives substantial funding from those same governments, and is welcomed by governments to host conferences.

Novák’s presence revealed the fault line between these priorities. Women Deliver received the credibility and status of having the government of Rwanda organize its opening ceremony and invite high-level guests. This meant having Novák on the stage, alongside other heads of state, which outraged its activist attendees.

A similar dynamic has surfaced at some UN events, where conservative groups’ participation in civil society gatherings have been threatened in the name of “safety” and pro-life and pro-family voices are characterized as “anti-rights.”  As with Women Deliver, the feminists’ goal is not simply to have a space to speak freely among themselves, but to gain legitimacy from admittance to UN proceedings, only to turn around and attempt to exclude opposing voices.

Conservative wins in UN negotiations, as well as national victories like the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. have made it clear that the so-called “backlash” cannot be ignored.

As the “sexual rights” movement pleads for “safety,” it resorts to increasingly aggressive—and undemocratic—power grabs.  Rather than appealing to the organs of the UN system governed by consensus of member states, the feminist organization AWID organized a petition to “stop the anti-rights infiltration” of the UN, directed at the independent human rights mandate holders operating under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

These UN bodies have a long record of exceeding their mandates and promoting controversial concepts of “rights” that have been repeatedly rejected by member states.

Elsewhere, activists are calling on Western governments to sanction social conservative groups based in Europe and the U.S. who work with allies in foreign countries.  Major banks, whose public statements are far from socially conservative, face outrage for allowing conservative charities to receive funding through their matching grants programs.  One such recipient singled out as an example in a report by the left-wing OpenDemocracy was the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

During a panel discussion on “anti-rights” groups at Women Deliver, speakers acknowledged that conservative groups have become increasingly professional, networked, and organized in recent decades, and are achieving success at the national and international level.  As a result, conservative organizations face increased hostility from activists who regard a free and open debate between opposing sides as too dangerous to be attempted.

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