A/79/151 Academic research has also provided valuable analysis of conditions conducive to inclusive electoral participation, especially in the context of electoral campaigns. 115 36. Taking up a highly visible political role in a hostile environment is often linked to a significantly heightened risk of exposure to all forms of violence, including risks to life. 116 In several submissions, it was noted that an increase in the number of openly LGBT persons contesting elections is associated with an increase in recorded cases of violence against them, as shown in the cases of Brazil and Colombia. 117 Similarly, there was a sharp increase in homophobic rhetoric in Kenya following a landmark Supreme Court decision allowing an LGBT group to formally register and operate. 118 37. Among the many misleading and discrediting tropes used against LGBT people, especially during election campaigns, is that they are advancing foreign values. 119 This is also apparent in post-colonial settings, as reflected in the Independent Expert’s 2023 report, 120 showing how post-colonial regimes simultaneously decry LGBT rights as imports and redeploy and reinvigorate colonial era legal frameworks to oppress LGBT persons. The 2023 decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declaring the “international public LGBT movement” an extremist organization is an absurd example of associating calls for the rights of LGBT people with malicious foreign influence. 121 38. Academic research on societies in transition from authoritarianism to democracy highlights that the discussion of equality for LGBT people tends to enter political discourse. 122 Authoritarianism is characterized by the restriction of the fundamental rights necessary for meaningful political participation, as well as the propagation of intolerance based on perceived “otherness”, 123 which may include political opinion or sexual orientation and gender identity. Anti -LGBT bias is oftentimes couched in misleading narratives of defending children, traditional families and the nation, and these tropes have been, as noted above, given incr eased prominence during election periods. 124 The invocation of anti-LGBT bias echoes and reinforces the long-established dominance of a particular claim to masculinity and the dominance of men in politics. In this regard, the pathologization of male homosexuality points to the linkages between heteronormativity and patriarchy in politics. 125 Projecting an image of hegemonic masculinity is oftentimes a desired trait of politicians, reflecting a tendency towards heteronormativity in politics. The nexus __________________ 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 24-12964 Gender and LGBTQ Issues in Election Processes: Global and Local Contexts, Routledge Studies in Gender, Sexuality and Politics Series, Paulina Barczyszyn-Madziarz and Przemyslaw Żukiewicz, eds. (Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom, Routledge, 2022). Joint submission by the Network of LGBTI Litigants of the Americas, the LGBTTTI and Sex Workers Coalition with work before OAS and the Regional Network without LGBTI Violence of Latin America and the Caribbean, p. 3; and submission by the International Lesbian and Gay Association, pp. 4 and 5 Submissions by the national human rights institution of Brazil, p. 7; Caribe Afirmativo, p. 6; and Dean Bordode. Submission by Ronald Kihali Omedo. See A/78/288. A/78/227. Submissions by Coming Out+, pp. 3 and 4; and the International Lesbian and Gay Association, p. 6. Sasha Roseneil and others, “Changing landscapes of heteronormativity: the regulation and normalization of same-sex sexualities in Europe”, Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, vol. 20, No. 2 (May 2013), p. 169. Bob Altemeyer, “The other ‘authoritarian personality’”, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 30 (1998), pp. 47–92. Submission by the Observatorio Latinoamericano y del Caribe de los Derechos Políticos y Electorales de las Personas Trans, p. 10. Louis Crompton, Homosexuality and Civilization (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 49–110. 15/25