Targeting of Pride events follow months of escalating anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from right-wing media

[tenderfoot]

At least three Pride Month events were targeted by right-wing groups over the weekend, a continuation of recent violence and escalating threats against trans people and LGBTQ spaces. Two of the anti-LGBTQ protests were precipitated by an implicit call to action from the far-right, anti-LGBTQ Twitter account Libs of TikTok.

The recent wave of confrontations comes amid an escalation of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric among far-right media figures and politicians. The right has manufacured a narrative that gay and trans people are “grooming” children, fueled in large part by Libs of TikTok and magnified by Fox News. In some cases, that anti-trans rhetoric has taken the form of direct calls to violence, as when Fox News’ biggest star Tucker Carlson said teachers who discuss gender identity should be “beaten up.”

In San Lorenzo, in the San Francisco Bay Area, a group of eight to 10 men believed to be associated with the proto-fascist street gang Proud Boys stormed a Drag Queen Story Hour on Saturday, hurling obscenities and threats at those in attendance. The event’s host, drag queen Panda Dulce, told CBS affiliate KPIX 5 that the intrusion “felt very close to violence.”

“It was extremely loud. It was like a cacophony of voices just yelling over one another, taunting me, calling me a groomer, a pedophile, a tranny, and an ‘it'. (They were) interrogating the parents, ‘Why are you bringing your kids to this?' I didn't feel safe because one of them was wearing a shirt with an AK-47 on it. And it said ‘kill your local pedophile'," Dulce recalled.

Days prior to the story hour, Libs of TikTok had tweeted about the event to the account’s 1.2 million followers.



https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/targeting-pride-events-follow-months-escalating-anti-lgbtq-rhetoric-right-wing-media

[MontanaMama]

1. Neo Nazi event planned for this Saturday

in my little blue town of Missoula. I'm nauseous thinking about it. The city government, Anti Defamation League, LGBTQ groups and local Jewish communities are encouraging people to stay away from the hate gathering to deprive them of the attention they are seeking.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

2. Mission fucking Accomplished

The very purpose of all of this. The very goal of the QOP constantly attacking the trans community. The hope behind Florarabia's "Don't Be Gay" bill. The very desire being nonstop FUCKING LIES AND HATE over trans teens and trans athletes and anyone who doesn't fit these Nazi's views on gender and sexuality.

This isn't about "fairness" or "protecting children." THIS IS ABOUT GETTING PEOPLE LIKE ME KILLED. And if something isn't done to stop it, they're going to succeed!

UHauls full of Patriot Front terrorists going after a Pride event.

Proud Incels with shirts with AK47's on them threatening drag queens.

This is what fucking terrorism looks like! This is what religious extremism looks like! These fucking "prophets" of death are working to get us fucking killed! They speak, their programmed brainwashed gun-humping incel robots act. Stochastic terrorism!

Arrest them all. Arrest these jackbooted Nazis. Arrest Drumpf. Arrest DeSatan. Arrest Abbutt. Arrest Carlson. Arrest Greene. Arrest Boebert. The same damned way I'd be behind bars right now if I had a platform and used it to incite violence and murder.

LOCK THEM UP!