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In times of turmoil, queer people often find themselves blamed for the ills of the worldPaul Donovan is an economist and author.
While 2023 has produced much to celebrate for the queer community, it has also produced much that is troubling or downright terrifying.
Uganda added execution to the list of punishments for being LGBTQ+, with life imprisonment the standard punishment. Iraq and Kenya are both considering harsh anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The US state of Florida has extended the scope of its “Don’t Say Gay” law; a Floridian who is old enough to be allowed to sign up to the army is not allowed to be taught about the LGBTQ+ community. Russia’s supreme court has declared the “International LGBT Social Movement” an extremist organisation (no such organisation exists). Italy’s government has attacked the rights of same-sex parents.
These decisions put around 10% of each nation’s population in a bleaker and more desperate position than they already were. These selective instances of prejudice also serve as a warning of the threats that are likely to continue appearing elsewhere in the world. At least part of reason for this destructive approach to the LGBTQ+ community is economic, and the economic causes of this prejudice will be replicated elsewhere.
The rise of scapegoat economics
Scapegoat economics is something that tends to arise during periods of economic upheaval. Times of transition and change alter people’s economic and social status. Put simply, some people go up and some people go down. The causes of these changes are normally complex.
When humans are confronted by complexity, we tend to immediately crave simplicity. If complex forces lower the economic status of some people in society, the risk is that those people are seduced by seemingly simple solutions. Finding a scapegoat to blame is a very simple answer to the problems created by change. Any group that is different must be causing things to go wrong. That it is a ridiculously inaccurate argument does not matter in the slightest. Someone can convince themselves that it is not their fault they lost their job – it must be due to immigrant labour, or women in the workforce. Or, of course, the LGBTQ+ community.
Scapegoat economics then encourages prejudice politics. Political leaders will exploit people’s fears by promising to restrict or suppress or otherwise exclude the scapegoats. Centuries of history show that this is a recurring trend in any period of economic and social upheaval.
The dangers ahead
The economic origins of prejudice politics create a very real danger in the coming years. Countries that engage in prejudice will damage their economies. The mantra for success in the coming years is “right person, right job, right time”. If the right person happens to be queer, then prejudice will recklessly throw away their talent and the economy will suffer as a result. If economic performance is already failing the risk is that additional prejudice will foment a downward spiral of economic weakness. This will just add to the desire to find a scapegoat to blame, and further fuel a desire for prejudice.
Fear amongst the queer community also risks increasing prejudice. Throughout history, one of the great antidotes to prejudice is contact between different groups in society. Prejudice rests on declaring one group to be “less than” the majority, or in extreme cases to dehumanise that group. It is easy to mete out harsh punishments to people you believe to be “less than” human. However, it is hard to dehumanise someone you know. Understanding that someone is just the same as you undermines the rhetoric of prejudice.
The more aggressively prejudiced hostile policies around the world will discourage any sort of visibility from all but the bravest of queer activists.
I spent my early years in financial markets carefully closeted. I was not threatened with imprisonment, just damage to my career – but that fear was enough to set my visibility to zero. If people become less open about their sexuality as repression becomes more serious, then the contact that can purge the rottenness of prejudice from a society becomes harder to find.
Visible resistance
It might be easy to dismiss each of these instances of prejudice as a unique, if horrifying, event. It is natural to crave security and reassurance by repeating “it couldn’t happen here”. Understanding that at least some of the causes originate with economic change implies that such an escalation of prejudice could happen anywhere. The damage that prejudice brings to economic performance could push any society into a downward spiral.
Resistance to prejudice with increased queer visibility is critical to overcoming that threat. Perhaps an international LGBTQ+ social movement is what is needed.
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