DEC 3rd – another weekend of fascist mobilization against the LGTBQ+ communities in multiple states.
The long and short of this report-back: increasing threats and violence+ public mobilization featuring multiple networks of fascists, we are in an era of right-wing, white supremacist, anti-LGTBQ+, antisemitic insurgency. We need to bolster our self-defense networks against these attacks, which show no signs of slowing but every sign of accelerating. This was seen recently and most tragically at Club Q, not just the mass murder itself, but also in the right-wing response. We have seen unforgivable victim blaming and soft endorsement of the violence, with no reflection or slowing down of the hateful disingenuous rhetoric which fueled the violence—rhetoric espoused by proud boy fascists and Nazis who continue to organize in plain sight, with support from the police and tech dictators like Musk defending their “free speech.”
ILLINOIS REPORT-BACK – In Aurora, community defense networks brought out 50+ antifascist activists and community members to stand up against threats of intimidation from the Northern Illinois Chapter of the Proud Boys, who posted the information about a 21+ drag show threatening to “protest” and dox performers and attendees (who they disingenuously referred to as “parents of the children,” as they falsely claimed the event was an all-ages drag show).
The cowards never showed up.
This is a complete win! Illinois has not seen a mobilization of more than 3 Proud Boys in over a year, since they were at the Columbus statue in Arrigo Park. former leader Edgar Delatorre #PBRemy has been however recently spotted supported TERF, inc. J. Torre @RevFemStBeat
Their chapter, if not completely dead, is dying. One member, Joseph Collins, faces a felony hate crime trial in response to his attack on UpRising Bakery. Another member, from Aurora, James Robert Elliot “JimBob”, awaits sentencing for rioting and assault on cops at the January 6 putsch. They mobilized exactly ZERO people on a day they were seemingly ordered to make a move in a coordinated nationwide assault on the LGBTQ+ community. They have no pull, no juice, nobody in local chud circles came out to support their call to action, none, nada, zilch. Instead of defending the community from bigots, antifascists held a street party!
It was a sunny day of networking around the venue, where activists enjoyed snacks, music, conversation, waiting to see if the transphobic chuds were to show their ugly faces. The queens came out and voiced their support and appreciation for the presence of community defenders. We cannot say for certain, but it’s likely the PB drove by and saw such a huge turnout that they turned their tails and ran away. This assessment is bolstered by reports from activists present at the event that people they recognized as being associated with the PBs were sitting in a car parked across the street from the venue taking photos and/or video. We believe they had every intention on showing up; they had posted the info for the venue twice and had actively boasted on how @IllinoisEagle article that posted about their plans was removed by Facebook.
In the past, NIC PB have shown up to multiple queer events to intimidate, including a Downers Grove, IL church to harass a trans Santa family event. They also made plans to harass a drag show at UpRising Bakery—that is, until one of their members, #JosephCollins, smashed the cafe’s windows and spray-painted slurs the night before. Collins was immediately caught and charged. Illinois Proud Boys later claimed that they had never intended to protest; it was just a distraction. You can always count on them to lie. And you cannot count on the cops to keep us safe—they instead monitored the community defenders, surely ready to protect the free/hate speech of the Proud Boys, should they have showed.
The piss boys ain’t shit, and the drag show went off without a hitch. Their threats had the reverse effect, and brought together various groups from all over the Chicagoland area in defense of queer joy. More bonds and connections were formed, and plans for future defenses were made. BIG L FOR THE FASH.
Let’s now look what else happened on this day:
Columbus, Ohio
A large group of Patriot Front / Proud Boys / WLM nazis / armed militia chuds meet up to harass a drag event—an event that was already cancelled. It is important to discuss and understand why this event was cancelled before it began. Please watch this statement by some involved with the organizing. A community response was organized with detailed plans to defend the event against the fascist threats to intimidate, and their plans noted the presence of police was almost certainly to make the situation LESS safe for LGTBQ+ folks, noting the long history of cops and violence against the queer community. But liberal leaders of the LGTBQ+ community made a statement instructing people to NOT come to the community defense or the event, and the event organizers cancelled the show altogether. That did not stop multiple fascist contingents rallying together. Police showed up briefly and were cordial to the fascists, proving the point that they are on the same team.
North Carolina
In Southern Pines, North Carolina, a family-friendly drag show targeted by stochastic terrorists Chaya Raichik of LibsOfTikTok attracted christian fascists to harass the attendees. And despite the power outage from an attack on multiple power substations the show reeportedly went on, with attendees using flashlights and candles to continue the performances.
At this moment, It is speculated that the attack on the power which curreently leeaves 40,000+ people without power may be related to a known right-wing extremist, a Jan 6 rioter, who posted on fbook “The power is out in Moore County, and i know why.” This is still an unfolding situation, and we cannot know at this moment whether this is an admission of knowledge of the attack, but we can say that fascists have been using the hashtag ” #imokwithit ” as a clear and tacit endorsement of the attack, in reference to the power outage may havee interrupted the drag event. If so, this is a serious upping of accelerationist violence that has long been dreamed of by nazis and fascists.
Florida
–Ft Lauderdale
A rally to “pRoTeCt ThE cHiLdReN” brought out Proud boys and Nazis, proving the differences between these groups are merely superficial, optics to manage as they all move towards their shared goal: the removal of queer and especially Trans folk from public spaces. “Gays vs gr**mers”, Moms4Liberty, Proud Boys, Nazis, all rallied together, but were met with a strong opposition that outnumbered them and drowned out their hate. “We Won” declared area antifascists. Even the mayor came to support queer voices and berated the haters.
–Lakeland
A group of Nazis and Proud Boys met up to harass people outside a family friendly drag art show, holding a banner exclaiming that “drag queens are ped*philes”, while cops huddled in their cars and did nothing to prevent them from verbally harassing patrons.
New York
Multiple known Nazis attempted to disrupt a drag show show in Manhattan, but failed. Nazis bound to lose, end of story.
some final thoughts
We are living in an era of increasing fascist violence and intimidation against marginalized peoples, our only option is to organize and mobilize. Show up in defense, lend mutual aid to your community, network, train, and join us in identifying and confronting these fascists. Get in touch with us or your local antifa crews and collectives if you have more intel on these fascists. We and others are doing the work in documenting and identifying who they are. Doxing fascists is an effective deterrence against hate, but we also need action as well-contact their businesses, do call campaigns, get them fired, expose their locations, make them pay. We believe that we will win – and we must, because the alternative is unthinkable. ALWAYS ANTIFASCIST!
