CitizenGO
CitizenGO is an ultra-conservative advocacy group founded in Madrid, Spain, in 2013.
The foundation promotes petitions in 50 countries, mostly defending Christian causes, and those opposing same-sex marriage, abortion, and euthanasia.
The European Commission found CitizenGo to be one of main founders of far-right campaigns across Europe and the United Kingdom.
History
CitizenGO was founded in Madrid, Spain, in September 2013 by HazteOir, , to expand its scope of action beyond Spanish-speaking countries, advancing the use of online petitions as a form of Internet activism to increase public participation in the democratic process. In appealing to potential donors early into CitizenGO's existence, the founder and president Ignacio Arsuaga stated: "CitizenGO will produce a social benefit that we trust will impact human history. Abortionists, the homosexual lobby, radical secularists, and champions of relativism will find themselves behind CitizenGO's containment wall".CitizenGO stated that it had "team members located in fifteen cities on three continents", facilitating petition campaigns in 50 countries and eight languages, with plans for further expansion, and that it was funded through online donations from its members. Following its foundation, CitizenGO’s chief executive officer was Álvaro Zulueta. Over time, the board of trustees came to include several internationally known figures of conservative and religious activism associated with transnational networks. In addition to Arsuaga, board of trustees included Walter Hintz, Blanca Escobar, Luca Volontè, Brian S. Brown, Gualberto García, Alexey Komov, Alejandro Bermúdez, John-Henry Westen, and Carlos Polo.
In 2001, lawyer Ignacio Arsuaga founded HazteOir. This organization later merged into and became part of CitizenGO, a move that was considered a "rebranding".
The foundation has been linked, like HazteOir, to El Yunque, a secret society of Mexican regional origin.
In 2021, CitizenGO board member Luca Volontè was sentenced to four years in prison for accepting bribes from Azerbaijan during the Azerbaijani laundromat in exchange for suppressing a report on Azerbaijan's human rights record. Some of these laundered funds were transferred to CitizenGO.
Sociologists McLean and Stretesky describe CitizenGo as part of "a veritable miasma of anti-trans campaign groups united in their antipathy toward transgender people," alongside FiLiA, Fair Play for Women, Get the L Out, Keep Prisons Single Sex, Lesbian Rights Alliance, LGB Alliance, Sex Matters, and Transgender Trend.
Activities
Abortion and euthanasia
CitizenGO promotes campaigns opposing abortion and euthanasia. CitizenGO has opposed the introduction of the "Estrela report" into the European Parliament, which recommends member states to provide comprehensive sex education in schools and ensure access to abortions, among other things.In late May 2019, CitizenGO hosted a petition by "Right to Life" calling on streaming service Netflix to stop funding a legal challenge to Georgia's controversial heartbeat abortion restriction bill. The group also called for subscribers to cancel their Netflix subscription as a sign of protest.
It has also supported African activist Ann Kioko's campaign to investigate pro-abortion rights group Marie Stopes International. After Kioko was put on trial CitizenGO used their platform to promote the idea that the Kenyan government wants to censor the protests of CitizenGO and other anti-abortion outlets.