Queering the Far Right: Homonationalism in the Alternative für Deutschland

This thesis applies the queer studies theory of homonationalism to Germany's newest far right party, the Alternative für Deutschland, to explore how the party is instrumentalizing and incorporating queer politics and identities. Against the pervasive assumptions of heteronormativity in the far right, as well as the conflation of "queer" and "progressive," I seek to render visible LGBTQ far right voters and their genuine homonationalist, Islamophobic interests in the AfD. Examining the organization, leader, and voter levels, this thesis illuminates how queers in the AfD are legitimizing the party and its racism and xenophobia by framing Islam as inherently homophobic, and themselves as "queer protectors" and inherently tolerant--despite the AfD's own opposition to marriage equality.