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Middleton Hills Trans Anarchist Collective Reading “Butch Anarchy” and “Intimate Authoritarianism”

Posted on 2024/03/12 by unsalted

Here, we can fully resist the call to attempt to assimilate our identities into the rhythm of traditional, patriarchal, masculinity. We know that doing so would afford us no real safety, and, further, we know that even attempting to do so would be a capitulation to the very system that brutalizes us and so many others in the name of control and “normality.”–“Butch Anarchy,” Lee Shevek

On April 7th, at 10AM, the Prairie Cafe will be encompassed by a wave of reclaimed, bejeweled, healing masculinity (and femininity and nothing and everything and whatever we crave) from the tranarchists of Middleton Hills. We will be discussing two short texts by Lee Shevek–“Butch Anarchy” and “Intimate Authoritarianism”–with a focus on ways to shatter patriarchal and abusive dynamics through an anarchist understanding of their structures and violatory nature, as well as how the restraining ownership of who can be masculine and what masculinity can be shattered and masculinity repurposed as something to enjoy and share in a way that is uncontrollable, liberatory, and loving, inherently destructive to all patriarchal dynamics with its warming venom.

Butch Anarchy: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/lee-shevek-butch-anarchy
Intimate Authoritarianism: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/lee-shevek-intimate-authoritarianism
Our website: https://linktr.ee/tranarchymiddletonhills

Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info.

Posted in Events, GeneralTagged LGBTQI+, Madison, mhtac, Wisconsin

MhTAC Announces Family Abolition Reading Group

Posted on 2024/02/18 - 2024/03/06 by unsalted

Is our love finite? Must we only exchange care by compulsion?

On March 9, at 10 AM, outside the Prairie Cafe (with possible remote options), the tranarchists of Middleton Hills will descend with our unbridled, unconfined, unrestrained love and desire to discuss the seminal essay of Voltairine de Cleyre on the societal harms and personal violation of marriage and monogamy. We will also discuss a short piece of biographical material on Voltairine de Cleyre written by her (totally platonic, no feral love or connection whatsoever, very straight) friend Emma Goldman as context for De Cleyre’s rhetoric and experiences.

Why is marriage a violation? It deeply restrains the resolution of interpersonal dynamics to something based on preserving a “product”–the nuptial vow–rather than the needs of people, and creates duties out of social relationships that could be a sustainment of an unsustainable joy. It encourages the patriarchal domination over birthing bodies, treating peoples’ joyous, contradictory, and vulnerable experiences as mere means to reproduction. And finally, it forces us to love finitely, rather than sharing unfathomable queer desire however is consensual and being made the closer to those we love precisely by the fact that we are not alone in loving. We do not own each other. Let that release, shatter, and satisfy you.

If you love classical anarchafeminist theory, please join us! Here are links to our readings:
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-voltairine-de-cleyre
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/voltairine-de-cleyre-they-who-marry-do-ill

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Posted in Events, GeneralTagged LGBTQI+, Madison, mhtac, reading group, Wisconsin

Firestorm Books Announces Campaign to Return Banned Books

Posted on 2024/01/06 - 2024/06/04 by unsalted
Circular sticker design with a possum reading a book in the center, and the words "trash fascism not books" around the outside

Activists Aim to Distribute 22,500 Books Removed from Schools in Duval County, FL

An adult possum reclines in a cozy living-room setting, reading a book to the children possums sitting around and climbing on them.

Asheville, NC (January 4, 2024) – Firestorm Books announced this week that it had acquired thousands of children’s books banned from the Duval County Public School system in Florida. The queer- and trans-owned bookstore will be giving away hundreds of copies each of nearly four dozen titles exploring topics from racism and colonialism to social movement history and visionary organizing. In a social media post, Firestorm asked people to make donations to help cover the cost of shipping books directly to children, and encouraged kids and adults to submit requests for these free book bundles.

Continue reading “Firestorm Books Announces Campaign to Return Banned Books” →

Posted in Call to Action, GeneralTagged asheville, Distro, fundraiser, LGBTQI+

Proud Theater Madison is back! Presenting “Proud Theater: Commercial Break”

Posted on 2023/12/12 - 2024/06/05 by unsalted

Proud Theater Madison is back! Art & Soul Innovations Inc. presents “Proud Theater: Commercial Break,” an exciting evening of theater and performance pieces written by and starring the talented youth of Proud Theater Madison, the city’s premier LGBTQIA+ and Allied youth theater troupe.

Proud Theater: Commercial Break runs December 15 (7:30pm) through 16 (2:30pm and 6:30pm) at the Madison Youth Arts Center (MyArts), located at 1055 East Mifflin Street, in Madison, Wisconsin. Tickets are a suggested donation of $10 at the door. Reservations for the show are encouraged and can be made via email at reservations@proudtheater.org. Since this is a youth production, audience members will be asked to wear a mask while in the theater space in order to curb the spread of COVID.

Proud Theater is an award-winning, exciting, and innovative youth theater program whose mission is ‘to change the world through the power of theater and the theater arts, and to make a positive difference in the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth through the tenets of art, heart, and activism.’ Founded in 1999, the group is open to youth ages 13 to 18 that identify as LGBTQIA+. Continue reading “Proud Theater Madison is back! Presenting “Proud Theater: Commercial Break”” →

Posted in Events, GeneralTagged LGBTQI+, Madison, Theater

White Flag: Giving consent only when it feels freely given; Black Flag: Acting so that others do not feel coerced.

Posted on 2023/11/04 by unsalted

mhtac just had a skillshare—and we have to say, this was pretty cool for our first offical event, because we created trans community in downtown middleton for the first time. we taught each other how to make zines, compared notes on the heteronormativity of the suburbs, distroed resources, and generally were queer in a place that attempts to stamp out everything other than nuclear families with 2.5 children, small dogs, and houseplants they will inevitably kill. we know that we dream of more than suburban assimilation, and we’ve finally found others in middleton who share our anarchy. and we need reliable community, a network, a scene, a family. we need to queer public space while reveling in the collective realization that, even in the suburbs, we can still find the queerest of insurrections. (and yes, we are shamelessly imitating queer ultraviolence in this communiqué. sorry not sorry.)

So we are hosting a reading group, at the Prairie Cafe on November 18 from 10 AM to noon CT. To send the shivers of releasing power–the White Flag, surrender–through the profoundly closeted onlookers who will inevitably be horrified, and to awaken the warmth of autonomy–the Black Flag, transgression–in those who would dominate us and erase themselves. Our text is “White Flag / Black Flag: A Spiritual Anarchism Workbook,” a work that explores the individualist anarchist values of self-liberation without the domination of others fused with classical Chinese literary structures of chance and choice. The text is not easily Googleable, so here is a link: https://shakespearefordogs.files.wordpress.com/2018/0https://shakespearefordogs.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/wfbf-zine.pdf5/wfbf-zine.pdf. We invite you to explore the inherent unresolved tensions within its values, and to discover what repressed gyrations they awaken within you.

check out this event: https://isthmus.com/events/mhtac-reading-group-white-flag/?occ_dtstart=2023-11-18T10:00

look at our big gay website: https://linktr.ee/tranarchymiddletonhills

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Posted in Events, GeneralTagged LGBTQI+, Madison, mhtac, Zines

Middleton Hills Trans Anarchist Collective Forms, Distros Zines, Announces Trans Skillshare

Posted on 2023/10/20 - 2023/10/25 by unsalted

“many blame queers for the decline of this society— we take pride in this. some believe that we intend to shred-to-bits this civilization and its moral fabric—they couldn’t be more accurate. we’re often described as depraved, decadent, and revolting—but oh, they ain’t seen nothing yet.” – be gay do crime

about ten minutes from middleton—a suburb of the vaguely neoliberal madison, wi– there is an even more heterosexual suburb of middleton called middleton hills. and two suburbs deep, surrounded by old white people and their dogs, these small-town queers, tranarchists, butches, femmes, riot grrls, edgy middle-schoolers, gender dreamers, theory nerds, outside agitators, and even a few accomplices have had enough. in middleton hills, there are absolutely no queer spaces, and indeed no spaces at all besides suburban homes, largely unused public parks, and a few hierarchically managed local businesses. instead of building queered networks of care, we read emma goldman in the darkness of our suburban homes, wondering if we’re the only soul in this suburb who’s ever dreamed of anything more than hoa violations and manicured lawns. but for all its isolating, perfect, orderly normalcy, middleton hills didn’t feel actively hostile until the terf propaganda showed up. a bigot had been putting up stickers for the hateful and transphobic women’s liberation radio network outside local businesses outside apartment buildings—and that was when we all decided to fight back.
it started with a distro targeting the terf; one otherwise unremarkable night, moonlight blanketing the endless sidewalks and alleyways of the suburbs, five or six of us anarchist queers covered the wlrn propaganda and put up messages of insurgent transness. spaces that had once looked unused, abandoned, and utterly sterile were, at least in our queer souls, no longer property but canvasses for trans and (actually) feminist art—because what is a suburb until you beautify it together, rendering it less idyllic and more riotously queer? and two weeks later, we distroed trans zines in a public park, blasting Against Me! and reveling in each other’s anarchy. the cis men who crossed the street to avoid us must have been at least a little envious, wishing they too could give themselves to beautiful, anarchic queerness.

after these moments of queer joy admidst the pain of suburban life, as annoying as the terf may be, this is not about the terf. this is not simply negation of a bigot but creation of a tranarchist subculture in middleton hills and the broader middleton/westside area. to that end, the newly formed middleton hills trans anarchist collective (https://linktr.ee/tranarchymiddletonhills) is hosting a trans skillshare at middleton library from 2:30 to 5 pm on saturday, october 28th! any tranarchist or accomplice is welcome to come teach about your skills and learn something new. some ideals: calling legislators about trans rights, how to get into community organizing, trans history 101, mutual aid + peer support, security culture, queer art, how to get involved with mhtac—and, you know, anything else your queer heart desires. feel free to bring resources, zines/stickers, and any trans-related or anarchist-organizing-related skill you’d like to teach others about. and above all, remember that suburbs are only heteronormative if we let them be. and that, even if you live in middleton hills, you’re not alone

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Posted in Events, GeneralTagged Distro, LGBTQI+, Madison, Skillshare, Wisconsin

Chicago, IL: Military Recruiters’ Office Attacked in Memory of Jennifer Laude

Posted on 2023/10/18 by unsalted

Originally published on https://bbnews.noblogs.org/post/2023/10/14/chicago-il-military-recruiters-office-attacked-in-memory-of-jennifer-laude/

We smashed out windows and knocked over furniture at a military recruiters’ office in a suburb of Chicago last night.

In solidarity with Filipino/a/x anarchists’ calls to commemorate Ganda, we swarmed on a miserable little strip mall where black and brown youth are targeted for induction into the imperial machine. Our intention was to slow down this violent routine, even if just for a couple of hours.

We swung our hammers invoking Jennifer Laude’s life, remembering the deeds of Michele Angiolillo and Leon Czolgosz, and channeling our rage against the transmisogyny and white impunity of neo-colonial occupation (A).​​​​​​​

Submitted Anonymously

Posted in Communiqués, GeneralTagged anti-imperialism, Chicago, direct action, LGBTQI+, repost, vandalism

Calling on USians to Memorialize Jennifer Laude and call for American withdrawal from the Philippines

Posted on 2023/09/15 - 2023/10/25 by unsalted
Portrait photo of Jennifer Laude

An Urgent Plea from the Philippines

To the brave comrades of Turtle Island:

Last year, we asked antifascists in the U.S. to act for us in commemorating our slain sister Jennifer Laude, killed by an American soldier. While there was some commemoration and remembrance of Jennifer Laude, this was done after her death anniversary on October 11 because the initial open letter calling for the commemoration initially fell on deaf ears. Earlier, Filipino/a/x autonomists, anarchists, and abolitionists in the so-called Philippines and its diasporas wrote an open letter asking US anti-fascists to resist the return of the murderer of Jennifer Laude to the United States, but his return was not resisted, and we received no report of any action protesting his return.

Let us review the facts for our comrades in Turtle Island:

Joseph Scott Pemberton committed a heinous hate crime by brutally murdering Jennifer Laude on October 11, 2014. Jennifer was murdered precisely because she was transgender, with Pemberton’s legal team even trying the so-called “trans panic” defense as a justification for her murder. The Philippine state appears to have sided with Pemberton’s excuse that Jennifer’s identity was a provocation in itself, inducing Pemberton to kill her. This defense frames Pemberton as the victim and sets a dangerous precedent for trans women in the archipelago and beyond.

Jennifer Laude is fondly remembered as a beautiful person who was confident in her identity and sexuality. She was well-loved by her family and friends and her nickname was “Ganda” meaning “beautiful.” However, Pemberton did not care for Jennifer Laude as a human being. He was unrepentant at his trial, even going so far as to dehumanize Jennifer Laude by referring to her as “it.”

Pemberton’s case was discussed again when the Philippine government considered him for an early release due to “good conduct” in early September, a charge that the Laude family questioned on the grounds that Pemberton could not have proved good behavior. Indeed, how could Pemberton have proven his “good conduct” if he had not interacted with any prisoner in his specially-designed cell?

The point is now moot, as Pemberton has received an absolute pardon from then-president Rodrigo Duterte. He can now walk free, absolved of any criminal liability. We have no doubt that the government of the United States has had a hand in Duterte’s granting of absolute pardon unto Pemberton.

As anti-fascists, we know all too well how the state employs a double standard in its policing between the privileged and the dispossessed. Pemberton’s whiteness protected him from facing any meaningful consequences, just as whiteness protected countless murderers in the so-called United States. His case has been rife with special treatment from the beginning, and his pardon from Duterte only confirms that. This murderer has known nothing but lenience and special treatment in his trial and during his imprisonment. He was detained separately during his trial and was the only occupant of a Camp Aguinaldo detainment facility that was specially constructed for him after his conviction. As the pandemic ripped through overcrowded prisons, the state in the Philippines dragged its feet on releasing non-violent offenders and condemned countless prisoners to a slow death by COVID-19. Yet the white man, the U.S. national, the violent offender, and a prisoner at no risk of contracting COVID-19 was the one prioritized for release. Upon his return to the so-called United States, the U.S. government went on record stating that the murderer would not face court-martial in the country.

The reason Pemberton’s whiteness protected him was due to the imperialized position of the Philippines in the U.S. empire. Since the U.S. invasion of the so-called Philippines in 1898, U.S. troops have enjoyed free rein in the archipelago. Pemberton was in the Philippines due to Balikatan, annual military exercises between U.S. and Philippine armed forces — a recurring program established following the ratification of the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The VFA is a reminder of the neocolonial presence of the United States in the Philippines. It allows for the presence of U.S. military personnel, aircraft, and vessels in the Philippines. It also complicates the custodial process for U.S. troops accused of committing crimes while in the archipelago. Though the Duterte administration moved to suspend the agreement earlier this year, Duterte reneged 3 months before pardoning Pemberton. Now, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revived the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) and its VFA, promising to use the Philippines as a base for American imperialist interests in Asia.

Militarization of the archipelago by U.S. troops has been correlated time and again with violence and sexual assault against women and sex workers. The violence that occurs at the intersections of racism, sexism, fetishization, and dehumanization is compounded for trans women who experience violence simply for being trans.

We anti-fascists already know that there is no justice to be had from the state, whether Philippine or American. This transphobic murderer continues to walk free as far as the states in the Philippines and the United States are concerned, so we reiterate our call to anti-fascists in the so-called United States to act.

While U.S. anti-fascists acted valiantly in response to the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and stepped up and defended communities where the state willfully failed, we have heard very little to suggest that Filipino/a/x trans lives matter in response to the return of the murderer to his country.

It has been nine years since the murderer took Ganda away from her family. There is still time to make up for this injustice.

We are writing this letter to ask antifascists and radicals of all strips on Turtle Island to act where we Filipinos could not. When the Spanish colonial government suppressed our people and murdered José Rizal, the anarchist Michele Angiolillo assassinated the Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo. When US President William McKinley conquered the Philippines and murdered our people by the thousands, he was assassinated in turn by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. We mention these examples of direct action not because we are asking you to kill the murderer of Laude, but rather to show you that the anarchist movement has historically acted where Filipinos cannot.

To be clear, we are not asking you to kill Joseph Scott Pemberton. As anarchists and abolitionists, we abhor such cycles of violence. Killing Pemberton will not bring Ganda back, nor will it be justice for the Trans and Queer comrades among us. What we want is this to never happen again. Do not allow Pemberton to forget the vile crime he committed. You must prevent Pemberton from committing harm again. You must petition Pemberton’s prospective universities and employers not to accept him because of his violent past. You must picket his home, workplaces, and schools with memorials to Jennifer Laude. You must reveal to the world what a hateful and spiteful little man he is. You must make his life hell.

In terms of social justice, you must organize for the United States to withdraw its military assets from our islands, the Philippines. Their hateful and imperialist military can never bring good to our country. The biggest reduction of sexual and intimate violence from American servicemen would be in terms of their total withdrawal from the Philippines.

Above all, we ask you to remember Jennifer Laude as a victim of white supremacy and include her in your commemorations of the victims of white supremacy. She must be spoken in the same sentences as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and all other victims of U.S. imperialism and police violence. Remember her as Ganda, kind, and generous. Remember her family as brave and steadfast in their demands for justice. While Jennifer’s story is not well known in the so-called United States, the injustice surrounding her case deserves your anger and solidarity.

Filipinos/as/xs have thundered that trans lives matter and for justice for Jennifer Laude, but we regret that our voices were not joined by U.S. anti-fascists. Ganda’s death anniversary is on October 11. We expect you to remember. We expect you to act.

In anger and solidarity,

Filipino/a/x autonomists, anarchists, and abolitionists in the so-called Philippines and its diasporas

Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info.

Posted in Call to Action, GeneralTagged call to action, LGBTQI+, phillipines, Solidarity

Transphobic Hair Salon in Traverse City Vandalized

Posted on 2023/07/22 - 2023/07/24 by unsalted
The storefront of a salon whose owner made transphobic comments is vandalized with spraypaint reading "TC loves trans folks" on the door, and "Trans power" etched on the window.

Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info.

The owner of Studio 8 Hair Lab, Christine Geiger, said that people who specify their pronouns should go to a pet groomer. She also said she didn’t care that she was in violation of MI HB 4744, a Michigan law banning gender discrimination. Well, trans people and their allies can break the law too, Christine, and we thought your store front could use some redecoration. Glass etch and spray paint reading “TC <3s trans folks” and “trans power” did just the trick. Trans people and our allies will not let this stand in our community.

The storefront of a salon whose owner made transphobic comments is vandalized with "Trans power" etched on the window.

Posted in Communiqués, GeneralTagged direct action, LGBTQI+, vandalism

Drag Event Defended from Proud Boys in Portage, MI

Posted on 2023/05/28 - 2023/05/28 by unsalted
A single Proud Boy getting handcuffed by police in Portage, Michigan

Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info.

This past Saturday proud boys attempted to harass an inclusive drag event hosted at a church in Portage, Michigan. A queer and anti-fascist rapid community response defended the event, outnumbering bigots and providing a strong physical deterrent to their presence.

My crew arrived around when the event was scheduled to start. One small circle of supporters was keeping watch of the quieter entrance to the parking lot to cheerfully greet attendees, while the bulk of the anti-fascist presence of about 50-75 people was at a larger entrance, watching the few proud boys across the street who arrived first and were waiting for other fellow bigots to arrive. The mood was cheerful but somewhat tense. There were free zines available, a speaker playing tunes, and overall the crowd was sociable while focused on defending the event and wider queer community. There were young people and adults, many people wearing some kind of black bloc, and others wearing typical street clothing. Immediate police presence was initially small, one marked squad SUV near the proud boys, one farther down the street, some presumed unmarked SUVs nearby, and more police farther away to serve as backup.

The proud boys hung by their car waiting for their friends in cringey bud light costumes to arrive, and finally started making their way towards the church without police escort. At this point there was approximately a dozen proud boys and affiliated bigots. The crowd of defenders started chanting in response to warn the proud boys to stay away, which unfortunately sparked some frustrating debate between a small number of liberals and the generally more militant crowd. The liberal concern and peace-policing over ‘instigating’ the anti-drag bigots would be a recurring theme over the afternoon. Whether they saw the verbal disagreements as confusion within the crowd or were simply self-confident, the proud boys approached the crowd, attempting to cross the street. At this point a scuffle broke out, with proud boys throwing the first punches, but being handily dealt with in return. The police responded quickly, but only had two or three officers immediately present and could only threaten antifascists with arrest. As police SUVs staged nearby arrived, there was quickly a dozen officers, and one of the proud boys was cuffed and taken away. No antifascists were detained or arrested, and some appeared to only suffer minor injuries. The police separated the crowds and primarily kept watch of the anti-fascists.

The quick scuffle was followed by a standoff on opposite sides of the road, with police in-between. Insults were exchanged for about an hour and a half until the proud boys eventually decided to leave. Probably because there wasn’t anything more they could do, and possibly because they had their fellow chud to bail out. As the immediate chud threat left, police also eventually left. Most defenders left after this, while some stayed back to watch for any possible returning proud boys, which didn’t happen.

Unfortunately one woman entered the event with malicious intentions, non-consensually filming children, parents, and drag performers to exploit for social media outrage fame later. This part of the event aftermath is currently playing out on social media.

Analysis

The rapid response worked fairly well for a short-notice event. In my opinion, this speaks to the strength of building ties and relationships within your own communities and with others in nearby towns and cities. These relationships enable this kind of quick action, where various affinity groups and crews can act autonomously, communicate with and support each other. It’s very handy having the gear and friends at the ready so you can quickly make a plan together, prepare support, and take collective action with people you trust.

In the case of defending an event at a fixed location such as this, controlling all entrances/exits is crucial. This was done well, with both entrances having a visible presence of supporters and defenders, with a large number of people committed to moving wherever the bigots may attempt to go to get closer. Planning to have radios or runners to call for backup if necessary is a good idea.

The police seemed mostly concerned with preventing fighting and keeping the road clear. It’s somewhat surprising they weren’t escorting proud boys initially, but they responded quickly when fighting did break out. The fact the only possible arrest was a proud boy indicates to me that they probably didn’t see arresting any anti-fascists involved in the fighting as possible due to the numbers, and may also show a “whoever throws the first punch” approach to blame. To avoid accountability, police had their badge numbers covered.

These proud boys seemed divided over interest in actually fighting versus trading insults, “triggering the libs” and live-streaming, spending most of the time shouting across police lines. They were significantly outnumbered and largely stuck together. Given the way this kind of standoff attracts attention, there was likely an opportunity for a sneakier normie-bloc crew to circle around and inspect the bigot’s vehicles, which were parked together in a known location.

The small number of liberals who sought to control the crowd (telling people to not chant, etc) were an amazingly oblivious distraction who seemed most concerned with a “peace” where bigots kept off the property and everyone stayed quiet. In the moment it seemed that this minor spectacle allowed or enticed proud boys to edge closer to the event. Debating love-based approaches to handling bigots is best done when not immediately physically defending a queer event from bigots who don’t tolerate queer existence. That said, for those willing to have the conversations, it may be worthwhile to try making inroads with said liberals. They may not ever be convinced that militant defense is correct, but they may at least be left with enough understanding and some notion of a relationship that they’ll keep out of the way in the heat of the moment.

The woman who filmed from within the event in an effort to catch her 15 minutes of fame in the right-wing outrage cycle is important to highlight. She seems to be 25 year old Olivia Claire Hickey, currently a grad student at Sam Houston State University.

https://twitter.com/antichud/status/1660333576691535872

(archived: https://archive.is/QBuEM)

Antifascists and those running or hosting drag and queer events should be aware of her to prevent her from doing the same kind of filming at other events. We need a proactive approach of keeping out known right-wing troublemakers, and probably want a strictly enforced no-photography policy, with possible exceptions for photographers who are known, trusted and invited to do event photography. This woman was unfortunately able to get footage of event-goers without their consent, to abuse for her own benefit.

What Next?

At this point it’s well established that the right is uniting around anti-LGBTQ hatred. It’s long been a feature of their politics, but has become a primary driver of action. While various GOP-controlled states compete to implement the cruelest eliminationist policy, far-right actors from proud boys to open nazis are making a point of threatening queer events on the ground. There’s indications within proud boy channels that they’ll make this a focus of their activity for the month of June, attempting to counter pride celebrations, pride in general, and even Juneteenth. It’s not hard to imagine other nazi and fascist groups doing the same.

However, the far-right’s echo chambers are fooling them. This kind of bigotry is far too popular, but less popular than they think. This gives us an opportunity. These calls to defend our community from hate groups can attract the numbers to solidly keep the bigots at bay or even run them off in the right circumstances. They’re a great opportunity to meet other like-minded people under circumstances of actually taking action to defend each other, and these experiences can also radicalize some of the liberal attendees. Defending ourselves from fascist attack doesn’t require justification, but these are nice bonuses.

These right-wing threats will become more common. Prepare for them now. Check in on your queer and radical networks, get a trusted crew together that you know well and can communicate well with, get gear ready (umbrellas, clothing, etc. 😉 ). Make plans for support, everything from jail support to snacks, rides and pet-sitting. Keep tabs on right-wing chatter, or get updates from people who do. Think about what these bigots are trying to get out of these escalations (rage-bait footage, IRL events, disrupting queer existence, …) and how to deny that to them, or make it cost more than they’re able to tolerate.

Posted in Antifascism, General, ReportbackTagged antifascism, direct action, LGBTQI+

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