
The World Economic Forum in Davos is forcing European states to legalize marriages between humans and animals, according to a false narrative also picked up in Romania.
Conspiracy propaganda and its perpetual reinvention
NEWS: “A woman marries her cat: Swiss courts of law sanction marriages between humans and animals as early as this week. After years of legal wrangling, it's now official: dental assistant Marianne C. Gutjahr from Zurich will be the first Swiss woman to marry her cat – a completely legal move, as human-animal marriages are as of this week legal in Switzerland” – FB page لیلی لینده لیلی (لینده وفرسکو)
Guuuys! The WEF endorses human-a=nimal marriages to boost diversity and inclusion. Spain was the first country to adopt such legislation, influenced by the WEF and Pedro Sánchez. The law enables people to develop “relationships” with a=animals without the intervention of veterinarians. Globalists seek to make this practice commonplace throughout the world. The bastards are also r#ping children and animals... Send that flood, God, will you?” – FB page Elena Porubin.
NARRATIVE: The World Economic Forum is pushing governments to approve human-animal marriages.
BACKGROUND: One of the most recent conspiracy theories that was very well received by the public is that of the “Great Reset”, by means of which the “world government” allegedly seeks to establish a totalitarian regime on a global scale. The strategy was reportedly set in place at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos in January 2021, after a preliminary plan had been put into practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WEF is an international non-governmental organization lobbying on behalf of multinational companies, which argues that the world can be managed more effectively by a coalition of multinational corporations, governments and civil society organizations. The foundation also acts as a think-tank, publishing a wide range of reports in different fields of activity such as finance, health, or environmental protection.
Regardless of the ideas and intentions of WEF members, their recommendations are strictly advisory and, contrary to the warnings of conspiracy theorists, not legally binding. The “Great Reset” suggested by WEF president Klaus Schwab is nothing more than an economic recovery plan, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to help economies rebuild after the global health crisis in a way that prioritizes sustainable development. In the meantime, the plan was adapted to include recovery measures for activities heavily affected by the war in Ukraine.
The theory about human-animal marriages was circulated also in Romania in 2018, when, in the context of debates regarding the organization of a constitutional referendum to change the definition of the family, Liviu Dragnea, the then president of the PSD and Chamber of Deputies Speaker, told a televised broadcast that “people are scared because they know there are countries where marriages between a human and an animal have been legalized”. The false narrative also caused a diplomatic incident, with MEP Claudiu Manda saying that the Canadian government has legalized sexual relations between humans and animals, generating a vehement reaction from the Canadian Embassy in Bucharest, which labeled the statements “categorically false, not to mention offensive”.
Currently, the narrative in question has resurfaced in the Romanian public space, initially on a Romanian-language account with origins in Serbia, which often promotes conspiracy narratives, but also on the account of a former journalist from the Republic of Moldova, currently based in Bucharest, who fosters a conspirative discourse in which she makes sure to touch on all the major themes, even if they are at odds with each other. In addition, she is a fervent supporter of Russia and its war of aggression in Ukraine.
The narrative about the legalization of marriages between humans and animals is part of the meta-narrative of the morally decadent West, which has strayed from Christian values. It is part of Moscow's propaganda war against the EU and NATO, which has been using topics related to sexual minorities for years in attempts to discredit European culture. Thus, the EU is described as “Gayropa”, a space in antithesis to traditional, Christian, Orthodox values, which Russia stands allegedly embodies. Homosexuality, pedophilia and zoophilia are very frequently presented as practically the same thing, in order to convince the public that, by promoting equality with respect to sexual orientation, the goal is actually to legalize pedophilia and zoophilia. In support of this theory, such narratives also claim that the letter B in the wording LGBTQ (an acronym of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer”) actually stands for “bestiality”, an allusion to sexual perversions involving sexual intercourse with animals.
PURPOSE: To undermine societal trust in the authorities, to validate self-promoted conspiracy theories, to stir and amplify social unrest, to demonize the West.
The fake news about Spain surfaced a year ago
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: In this particular case, the narrative is apparently rooted in an article published on March 1, 2023, by The People's Voice website, titled “WEF Says It’s Time to Legalize Sex and Marriage With Animals To Promote Inclusion”. The article claims the WEF had ordered its people infiltrated into world governments to take swift action leading to a new legislative initiative that would give people the right to marry animals in an effort to promote diversity and inclusion.
The People's Voice is the current name of NewsPunch, originally known as Your News Wire. A 2017 report by BuzzFeed News identified NewsPunch as the second-largest source of fake news spread on Facebook that year, and a Poynter's June 2018 analysis identified NewsPunch as having been debunked over 80 times in 2017 and 2018 by fact-checkers accredited by FactCheck.org, PolitiFact or the Associated Press. In turn, the European Union's East StratCom task force criticized NewsPunch for spreading Russian propaganda.
The “source” of the narrative is a legislative project approved by the Spanish Parliament last spring, which redefines and increases the penalties for abuse against pets. In its justification, the article referred to the ambiguous reformulation of Article 337 of the Spanish Criminal Code regarding the penalties for mistreatment and abuse of animals. Thus, the amendment approved by the Spanish Parliament labeled criminal offenses only those “acts of a sexual nature” against animals involving treatment from a veterinarian. This prompted conspiracy theorists to claim the new Spanish legislation decriminalized sexual abuse of animals without serious consequences, thus legalizing zoophilia. In fact, acts of a sexual nature against animals will continue to be considered criminal offenses in Spain, but those that do not seriously affect the physical integrity of the animals will be punished only as a misdemeanor, with a fine, a fact indeed criticized by many organizations that militate for animal rights.
As for Switzerland, a country that is not even a member of the European Union, its legislation on animal abuse is one of the best in the world. Thus, not only are aggression and sexual acts with animals punished in Switzerland, but also possession and distribution of pornographic materials involving animals.