In 2021, the then-Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, hoisted for the first time the rainbow flag at his official residence to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. Today, that gesture would be illegal.

For as long as LGBTQIA+ people have been struggling for equal rights and for visibility in society without shame, because they belong as much as anyone else, there has been a tension between their rightful pride and right-wing politicians.

With the rise of extreme right-wing in Portugal and the dissemination of a particular brand of toxic masculinity and traditional gender roles, the LGBTQIA+ struggle has been targeted as “gender ideology”, seeking the erosion of family values and the manipulation of young people’s minds.

Recently, this came to a frenzy regarding the rights of trans people, especially underage teenagers who wish to start hormonal treatments to adjust their bodies to their right gender. The usual suspects, including the Chega theorist, Maria Helena Costa, who has been accused by her son, Miguel Salazar, of horrendous child abuse, decried that young people don’t know their minds and should only be allowed to make those decisions in adulthood. That means that it would be too late for trans people to be fully comfortable in their bodies, as their secondary sexual characteristics would be set for life.

On March 20, 2026, the Portuguese Parliament approved, in principle, bills introduced by the PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP that repeal the 2018 gender self-determination law. Among other provisions, the new rules aim to raise the minimum age for changing one’s gender on civil records to 18 and require medical validation. The state’s regulation of people’s bodies now extends to the symbolic, and it set the stage for legislation from extreme right-wing Chega, followed by another from the Christian Democrats (CDS) and the so-called Social Democrats (PSD) to prevent any display of LGBTQIA+ flags on public buildings, which passed by their majority in parliament.

What will they try to do next? Prohibit Pride marches? Create difficulties in adoption by same-sex couples? Alter marriage legislation? The fact is that we have seen in other jurisdictions that the slow erosion of human rights quickly spreads to other subordinate groups.

What kind of nation will we become when the dreams of April are forgotten, and waves of conservatism install themselves in public consciousness? Those who are left to fight the right are too busy with the proposed labour legislation that will destroy decades of progress in that arena. Few voices have taken to the streets to defy the erosion of LBGTQIA+ rights. Alas, one day it will be my rights and yours that will be targeted, and there will be no one else left who cares enough to fight. 

Avelina da Silveira is a poet, novelist, essayist, editor, and cultural and political activist.