The current intensity of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and activism has been fueled, in part, by the mainstreaming of “groomer” conspiracies, which traffic in tired tropes about the LGBTQ community and sexual predation, specifically on children. In recent weeks, neo-Nazis have circulated a video showing an anonymous person smashing a shop window featuring a Pride flag, that bears the caption “Do not tolerate evil.”Īnd a man in Whidbey Island, Washington, was arrested on charges of civil rights malicious harassment with a hate crime enhancement after his queer neighbor raised the alarm about his violent anti-LGBTQ social media posts, including ones that referenced upcoming pride festivities and direct threats toward her. But what should be a celebrated return to business as usual has been hampered by the current climate of threats.Įarlier this month, 31 members of white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, piled into a U-haul on their way to disrupt an annual Pride event, according to police. For many cities, Pride festivities are resuming for the first time following a two-year hiatus due to COVID.
