LGBTQ+ rights gain attention only when used to frame another group as the problem

The debate surrounding LGBTQ+ rights in Denmark is increasingly being framed through the lens of political utility, particularly when used to criticize or identify other groups as problematic. This approach risks instrumentalizing genuine concerns for LGBTQ+ individuals to serve broader political agendas, such as national identity or migration policies.

Oliver Anton, a political advisor at Amnesty International Denmark, argues that LGBTQ+ people are often reduced to mere statistics in these politically charged narratives. He contends that if political parties truly prioritize LGBTQ+ safety and combat religiously motivated homophobia, they must extend this concern beyond situations where it serves to target another group.

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As an LGBTQ+ person, one is made into a statistic in a narrative one has not written oneself.

The commentary suggests a pattern where condemnation of anti-LGBTQ+ violence, like the attack at CSD Berlin Pride, quickly devolves into political maneuvering. Anton criticizes the temptation to use such incidents as arguments for unrelated issues, asserting that the focus should remain on strengthening LGBTQ+ rights themselves, rather than using them as a tool in other debates.

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If many parties truly care about the safety of LGBTQ+ people and about religiously motivated homophobia, they must also find the concern when it is no longer about the perpetrator, but about the solutions for how to strengthen their rights.