https://news.yahoo.com/anti-lgbtq-protests-time-high-140000291.html

Once a week on average in 2022, Proud Boys joined or led anti-LGBTQ+
protests held across the US.

Most of their demonstrating targeted drag performances; many involved
violence and armed protesters.

Insider's interactive map shows what happened each time they joined anti-
LGBTQ+ protests last year.

The Proud Boys are on the march against the LGBTQ+ community � and
especially against drag performers.

No other militant, far-right group comes close to the Proud Boys' new-
found dedication to public displays of homophobia, alarming new numbers
show.

Once a week on average last year, and from coast to coast, the group waved
their black flag at "straight pride" and "save our children" rallies or
shouted slurs at tense, sometimes violent protests against Pride Month
celebrations, queer school curricula, and gender-affirming healthcare for
youth.

Drag �an ancient, misunderstood art form � was the Proud Boys' most common
target.

Out of 53 anti-LGBTQ rallies the extremist group led or joined in 2022, 60
percent were attempts to disrupt drag events with baseless taunts of
"grooming" and "pedophilia" � efforts equally divided between adult-only
performances and family-friendly parties and story hours.

The Proud Boys' presence fueled a nationwide surge in anti-LGBTQ+
demonstrations last year, according to the latest stats from the Armed
Conflict Location & Event Data Project, or ACLED.

Overall, there were at least 174 anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations across the
country in 2022, the most ACLED has seen since it began counting in 2020,
Jones said.

"Among the far-right militias and militant social movements that we track,
the Proud Boys were the top group involved in anti-LGBT+ incidents in 2022
by a significant margin," said Sam Jones, who directs communications for
ACLED.

ACLED recently shared its raw data with Insider.

It shows alarming trends.

Proud Boys' LGBTQ+ protests averaged just one or two per month for most of
2022.

Then last fall, their activity climbed. Proud Boys joined in seven anti-
LGBTQ+ protests in September, 10 in October and 6 in November. In
December, they protested at 13 anti-LGBTQ+ protests, more than in any
other month last year, ACLED data shows.

These included demonstrations against the Fresno Drag Festival in
California and against five "Drag Queen Christmas" shows � in Santa Rosa
California; Grand Prairie, Texas; Knoxville, Tennessee; and in Fort
Lauderdale and Clearwater, Florida.

To be clear, drag is not synonymous with LGBTQ+ and one doesn't need to
identify as queer to participate in drag. But the performance art form has
become a big, sparkly avatar for the extreme right in their pushback
against LGBTQ+ rights.

"There was this really big push in December," against drag in particular,
confirms Emily Kaufman, a researcher for the Anti-Defamation League's
Center on Extremism.

The push is strategic, she said.

The Proud Boys are tracking the culture wars in search of media attention
and new recruits. As public attention shifts away from their previous
mainstays of anti-COVID mandates and "stop the steal" rallies, the group
is moving on to the next hot-button issue, she said.

In 2020, only two percent of the group's marches and protests targeted
LGBTQ+ issues or events. In 2021, it was only 8 percent. But last year,
anti-LGBTQ+ events comprised 40 percent of their demonstrating.

And the group's anti-LGBTQ+ push is continuing, said Kaufman, who tracks
the Proud Boys' estimated 119 chapters in 46 states.

Proud Boys are turning up these days at nearly half of all anti-LGBTQ+
activity across the country, she told Insider.

More protests, more weapons
Weapons � including paint guns, mace, pepper spray, fireworks, handguns,
and rifles � are also turning up at these protests more often, the data
shows.

Firearms were reported at 13 anti-LGBTQ protests in 2022, including in the
hands of pro-LGBTQ+ counterprotesters. Nine of these armed protests
happened in the last four months of the year.

"The only scary thing about a drag story hour is one of these conservative
white men with a gun � it's not what we're reading, it's not what we're
singing, it's not our arts and crafts projects," said Jonathan Hamilt,
founder of the national Drag Story Hour organization, which supports 50
chapters around the US, bringing readings to public libraries and schools
for seven years.

"It's literally the opposition trying to kill us."

In another disturbing trend, the Proud Boys � who are considered a hate
group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the ADL, and who are accused
as key players in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol � are building
alliances with other extremist groups, ACLED data suggests.

Neo-Nazis accompanied Proud Boys at nine anti-LGBTQ+ events, in Texas,
Oregon, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, and � twice � in New York City.

381 Comments

morty
1 day ago

Don't try to suggest Proud Boys are the only people opposed to LGBT+
culture change actions. A large majority of people are opposed , even if
Proud Boys are easy targets because they are the most visible. I am not
saying not having understanding towards LGBT, but only they go too far and
are too extreme.

On Mon, 6 Feb 2023 07:44:35 +0100 (CET), open gay sanitariums
<more@yahoo.com> wrote:

>https://news.yahoo.com/anti-lgbtq-protests-time-high-140000291.html
>
>Once a week on average in 2022, Proud Boys joined or led anti-LGBTQ+
>protests held across the US.

"Little boys" is more accurate.

Swill
--
THEORY is when you know everything but nothing works.

PRACTICE is when everything works but no one knows why.

IN THIS FORUM, theory and practice are combined:
Nothing works and no one knows why.

Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!

--
Bill Mahr on George Santos: "Everyone saw in George Santos what
they wanted to see - Republicans saw a Trump loving rich prick, Democrats
saw a a proudly gay person of color, and the Proud Boys saw him as a guy
who would blow them after a couple of beers and not tell anyone."

Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!