Morning Briefing: Extremists Groups of 'Contrasting Ideologies' Target LGBTIQ Community
Extremist groups are deploying similar anti-LGBTQ+ narratives, despite the groups having 'contrasting ideologies, from Jihadis to right-wing extremists and QAnon to Incels,' according new research.
Morning Briefing: Extremist groups are deploying similar anti-LGBTQ+ narratives, despite the groups having “contrasting ideologies, from Jihadis to right-wing extremists and QAnon to Incels,” and that “countering the toxic narratives of misinformation regarding LGBTQ+ populations by right-wing political entrepreneurs or conspiracy theorists is crucial,” according to research recently published in PS: Political Science and Politics.
Dr. Jared Dmello, senior lecturer of criminology at the University of Adelaide’s School of Social Sciences, found that a “wide variety of extremist groups, which on the surface have nothing in common, are actually engaging in similar attacks on the same marginalised communities,” and that this “reflects broader political movements around the world that also target the human rights of this increasingly vulnerable population.”
The Savannah Pride Center is calling for local law enforcement to “investigate a deadly West Bay Street shooting as a hate crime,” and that despite that multiple witnesses confirmed the victim “was subjected to anti-LGBTQ+ slurs before being shot, the Savannah Police Department has yet to acknowledge this as a hate crime.”
In San Antonio, Texas, local officials are reportedly investigating “after a memorial honoring the 53 migrants who were killed in a 2022 smuggling tragedy along Quintana Road was vandalized,” and “there is no suspect information currently available” and local law enforcement’s “investigation is ongoing.”
A spokesperson for the Savannah Police Department said in a statement that “at the moment, the facts we have do not support that type of charge. However, we will continue to work closely with the DA to ensure the appropriate charges are brought about as the facts come to light.”
In Clio, Michigan, flyers promoting racist propaganda were reportedly “found outside of a Genesee County gas station,” and the flyers included the racist slogan “diversity is code for white genocide.” The flyers appear to be similar to anti-immigrant propaganda that has been distributed by various far right White Supremacists groups.
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Steven Lee Myers and Stuart Thompson write that during President Donald Trump’s “first four years in the White House were filled with false or misleading statements — 30,573 of them, or 21 a day on average, according to one tally. Back then, though, aides often tried to play down or contain the damage of egregious falsehoods. This time, Mr. Trump is joined by a coterie of cabinet officials and advisers who have amplified them and even spread their own. Together, they are effectively institutionalizing disinformation. While it is still early in his term, and many of his executive orders face legal challenges that could blunt the impact of any falsehoods driving them, Mr. Trump and his advisers have ushered the country into a new era of post-truth politics, where facts are contested and fictions used to pursue policy goals. Mr. Trump justified the pardons of hundreds of rioters convicted of the violence, including assaults on police officers, at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by maintaining that “they didn’t assault” anyone. He attacked Canada, a NATO ally, by claiming fentanyl was pouring across the border, when in fact less than 1 percent of the drug was traced to the country last year… False narratives that once percolated in the darker corners of the internet are now advanced by Mr. Trump and his appointees and amplified by a media echo chamber, muddying the political discourse and compounding a broader erosion of trust in institutions themselves. [The New York Times]
Allie Wong writes that Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest “was not an anomaly, it was an inflection point; a moment encapsulating America’s current expressions of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hostility. But this moment is not without precedent. Contemporary allegations of ‘antisemitism’ chill free speech and political dissent just as McCarthy-era accusations of communism did, fusing state repression with the imperatives of white Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism “blurs the distinctions between Christian identity and American identity,” mixing regressive politics and a religio-political devotion to one’s country. White Christian nationalism elides American belonging with white supremacy and conservative Christian morality, rendering non-whites and non-Christians not merely outsiders, but threats to the United States. This framework rejects diversity, equity, or inclusion (DEI) and is fundamentally antithetical to plurality, despite America’s foundational commitments to individual liberty and religious freedom… Just as anti-communist rhetoric once served to purge academics, artists, and activists from public life, disingenuous allegations of antisemitism today warp legitimate concerns into a tool for criminalizing pro-Palestinian activism, paradoxically undermining the safety of Jewish communities.” [Religion Dispatches]
Jordan Green writes that “the campaign to punish pro-Palestinian activists, highlighted most dramatically by the Trump administration’s deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, is unfolding alongside an effort by pro-Israel groups to dox a wide array of individuals sympathetic to the Palestinian plight, going so far as to single people out for merely wearing keffiyehs. Stop Antisemitism, a group that has vocally supported the administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestine activists, has posted photos on the social media platform X that show retail and hotel workers wearing the keffiyeh, a black and white scarf linked to the Palestinian struggle. The pro-Israel group claimed that the garment is associated with ‘violence against Jews.’ Previously, the group posted a photo of a VA doctor in New Orleans wearing a keffiyeh while standing at a hospital bedside. The group later posted an update claiming that the doctor had been disciplined, and that the government agency clarified its policy to prohibit keffiyehs in the hospital. In another incident, a woman wearing a keffiyeh was photographed working in a grocery store. The photos were published on X with a caption describing her as a ‘Hamas sympathizer.’” [Raw Story]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Narratives of the Right delivers weekly analysis of the current narratives in far right online spaces and promoted by right-wing media; and Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right.
I guess I don't see how these are contrasting. These groups are bound by an underlying patriarchal culture that's been essentially universalized. Of course they hate queer people, queer people are a threat to the patriarchal world order. If you asked them 10 years ago they would have all been talking about the evils of feminism, that changed to "trans ideology" just like PC became woke. It's like be puzzled by the similarities between mushrooms sharing a mycelial mat.
I’m not totally surprised considering the vote count in Michigan and Pennsylvania. I mentioned before about cultural differences and male dominance and control of the family. The anti trans narrative reeled them in.