Abstract
The March for Life and Family has taken place annually in Poland since 2006, inspired by similar events like the Paris March for Life, the Prague March for Life, the Washington, D.C. March for Life, and marches in many other American cities and the Walk for Life West Coast. In Poland, the March promotes a traditional Catholic view of life, sacramental marriage between a man and a woman, and large multigenerational families. It simultaneously opposes abortion and the rights of non-heteronormative individuals. In my paper, I show that the March advances an ambivalent agenda: affirming the family while excluding LGBT+ individuals. I use Norbert Elias’s sociological theory of (de)civilizing offensives to evaluate this agenda. Consequently, I highlight how the religious pro-life and pro-family movement may contribute to limiting the social integration of sexual minorities.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Community and Socialization
KEYWORDS
Catholicism, Family, Inclusion, Exclusion, LGBT+ People, Norbert Elias
