Far-right militias including the Proud Boys and Patriot Front are preparing to escalate their attacks on LGBTQ+ businesses and events during Pride month, according to reports from extremist watchdog organizations.
Multiple watchdog groups told Insider last week that militia organizers from both groups are privately planning to escalate anti-LGBTQ+ provocations at Pride parades, drag shows, and other such events throughout June and beyond. In private Telegram groups, users have shared images of banners with anti-LGBTQ+ slurs and slogans they plan to bring to spark an emotional reaction and instigate violence.
“We are seeing just a singular focus on LGBTQ people,” Global Project Against Hate and Extremism co-founder Heidi Bierich told the publication, adding the two groups are “all about violence [...] What happened last year, it was probably just a whiff of what we might see this year, after 12 months of organizing.”
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, out of the nearly 200 anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in the U.S. last year, the Proud Boys participated “more than any other militant far-right group.” Founded in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys have been recognized as a terrorist group in Canada and New Zealand and are categorized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In private Telegram groups, Proud Boys have planned to counter Pride events by “taking back June” with a so-called “Proud Month” that would, as one militia member put it, “challenge this perversion of the Nuclear Family and Gender.” Proud Boys also plan to disrupt and co-opt Juneteenth celebrations with coordinated “Proud Day” events “to break the chains of Pride Month” on June 17, two days before. The watchdog groups were not aware of specific chapters’ plans for “Proud Day” as of last week, only that they expect some kind of escalated activity, and advised general caution.
Last year marked a surge in attempted right-wing violence at LGBTQ+ events, as Republicans’ anti-drag propaganda fueled recruitment for white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups. Proud Boys and Patriot Front members have regularly disrupted events such as Pride celebrations, “drag queen story time” programs at public libraries, and even church Bingo nights, with some armed extremists threatening attendees and accusing them of child molestation. This is despite the fact that numerous right-wing politicians have themselves been accused of grooming, molestation, and other sex crimes in the recent past, including Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, and former Texas Rep. Bryan Slaton.
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