A vast literature has explored the consequences of historical narratives, and
specifically, narratives of violence and repression, for shaping political outcomes
and attitudes. However, strikingly little has been said about narratives of LGBTQ+
repression, which has been prominent across democracies and non-democracies
alike. How do individuals react to narratives of national repression against LGBTQ+
communities? Given the lack of critical historical knowledge of LGBTQ+ repres-
sion in many countries, we expect that exposure to these narratives could have
profound effects. Building on two theoretical areas—the Marley Hypothesis, which
links racial prejudice to ignorance of history; and “homonationalism,” which ex-
plores the puzzling parallel trends of pro-LGBTQ+ attitudes and support for na-
tionalist parties—we test the effects of historical knowledge treatments on queer-
phobia, policy preferences, threat perceptions, and party affinities. We study ex-
posure to repression of the LGBTQ+ community during the Spanish Civil War and
under the Franco dictatorship. Results from a video-vignette experiment will have
important consequences for the implementation of education initiatives while also
offering theoretical contributions to literature spanning group-based discrimina-
tion, electoral politics, and nationalism.