These are turbulent times for LGBTI people in Central and Eastern Europe: Hungarian and Polish authoritarian governments are committed to defending the traditional family and fighting ‘foreign’ forces of liberalism; the rights of same-sex couples were subjected to referenda; Lithuania has outlawed gay ‘propaganda’; and in Serbia governing parties are performing tolerance to speed up EU accession. This panel explores this dynamic context by asking the following questions: how does the EU affect the discursive strategies of LGBTI activists and their adversaries; why do countries fail to effectively protect sexual minorities from discrimination; and what motivates conservative actors to agitate against LGBTI rights? The papers analyze (1) the political use of referenda on marriage and the family in three countries, demonstrating their underlying political motives; (2) the way in which the prospect of EU accession has shaped the interactions and power relations between Ukrainian LGBTI activists and the government; (3) the emergence of LGBT rights as a political issue and its development over time in Poland, representing a gateway to modernity for some and a vehicle for expressing Euroskepticism for others; (4) how the different rhetoric of Christian-Democratic parties in Lithuania and Slovakia regarding LGBTI reflects their different positions on European integration; and (5) how the failure to implement the antidiscrimination law in Serbia is not due to a lack of political will, but has important societal roots. Together, these papers offer a timely commentary on the state of affairs of LGBTI rights in the region.