Morning Briefing: LGBTIQ Community Prepares for Continued Far Right Protest
Morning Briefing: LGBTIQ Community Prepares for Continued Far Right Protest
During Pride Month, LGBTIQ communities around the country have continued to prepare for being targeted by far right protests including by violent extremists such as the Proud Boys.
Flash Sale: 50% off an annual paid subscription! Discount ends on Sunday, June 18th.
Far Right Extremists Threats to LGBTIQ Events During Pride Month: Join the discussion in Twitter Spaces today at 1:00pm EST (12:00pm CST / 10:00am PST).
Morning Briefing: During Pride Month, LGBTIQ communities around the country have continued to prepare for being targeted by far right protests including by violent extremists such as the Proud Boys.
The Parasol Patrol is among a growing number of groups of “dedicated volunteers who use rainbow umbrellas to shield children and families so they can enjoy these events without the watchful eye of anti-LGBTQ protestors.”
In Texas, the LGBTIQ community remains defiant even as a “small but vocal groups have targeted drag-related events that have existed for decades and largely become mainstream in recent years — from weekend brunches to LGBTQ+ pride celebrations to ‘safe space’ events for queer youth.”
A member of Patriot Front, the neo-fascists White Nationalist group, is allegedly behind an internet scam which targets the trans community by selling fake hormone alternatives.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly seen an “uptick in Ku Klux Klan and Proud Boys flyers dropped off in people's driveways across Kentucky.”
Paul Lovley, a former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA), was “sentenced to two weeks of imprisonment for storming the U.S. Capitol along with associates described by authorities as fellow followers of a white nationalist movement.”
*Later Today: Update on the Far Right Anti-LGBTIQ Groups Protest Plans
Must Reads
Tess Owens reports that “the specter of anti-LGBTQ violence has cast a dark cloud over this Pride month. Far-right extremists, buoyed by mainstream GOP policy and rhetoric, have been laser focused on anti-LGBTQ hate and conspiracy theories for the last year, with particular focus on attacking trans rights and events that involve kids. Many of the protests targeting the LGBTQ community in the last year have drawn an array of neo-Nazis, white nationalists, Proud Boys, and weapons. In late May, the Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin reaffirming the U.S. to be in a “heightened threat environment” and identified events and individuals from the LGBTQ community as potential targets. Though there have been disruptions at a few Pride events so far this month, so far the most disturbing threats seen online have fortunately proven to be empty—often seemingly made with the goal of scaring the LGBTQ community indoors.” [Vice News]
Chauncey DeVega writes that “there are other reasons which explain why there were not more Trump supporters at the federal courthouse in Miami. These include a fear by his followers of the FBI and other law enforcement, that some of the most dangerous leaders and others in the right-wing militia and larger paramilitary movement were arrested in the aftermath of Jan. 6, and that so-called "lone wolves" including mass shooters and other right-wing terrorists and malign actors are choosing their moment to launch attacks and therefore view large gatherings as putting them and their plans at risk. Ultimately, we must be very careful not to infer too much from what took place in Miami on Tuesday and erroneously conclude that the dangers of violence and terrorism from the Trumpists and other members of the white right and neofascist movement are somehow diminished or spent – when, in fact, such an incorrect conclusion is exactly what such malign actors desire.” [Salon]
Tim Dickinson interviews Brad Onishi: “There are extra-judicial acts of violence that are menacing our public square. During the 2022 midterm elections, we had men with AR-15s sitting outside of ballot drop boxes in Arizona. We have people who are disabling, through terrorist acts, power grids in order to stop a drag queen story or to stop a gay brunch. Figures such as Kyle Rittenhouse or Daniel Perry are seen as heroes of those who are willing to do everything they can to put the social order back in place. Last year at Pride in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, dozens of Patriot Front members were arrested seconds before they were able to descend upon the Pride event. I interviewed people who were there and believed they were seconds away from unspeakable violence. In Glendale, California, there was a violent eruption between parents who were protesting and counter-protesting LGBTQ curriculum, books and materials in L.A. schools. There are little fires everywhere that portend the kind of American conflict that we’re discussing.” [Rolling Stone]
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.
