Homophobia in America is Extremely Bad
The Ohio Drag Protests and the Rise in Anti-LGBT Rhetoric
Shortly after the new year in 2022, “groomer panic” began to spread all across the country. During that time I wrote a blog post for the Penn State School of Public Policy that covered how fringe groups of homophobic losers used the internet to spread the conspiracy theory that the LGBT community was trying to groom the youth, and brainwash them into dying their hair, painting their nails, and being different. The idea that gay people are recruiting new members is so old and tired that there’s kitschy t-shirts you can buy about it, but that didn’t stop the GOP from running with it. Now, a year later, it seems that the fringe elements that first tried to push this narrative feel more emboldened than ever.
On Saturday March 11th, 2023, the Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour was held at Wadsworth Memorial Park in Wadsworth, Ohio. The Facebook page for the event described a family friendly atmosphere, with proceeds going to the survivors of the Club Q shooting and the B. Riley House, an LGBTQ+ charity based in Cleveland. Plans for the day included a reading of “Elle the Humanist,” a children’s book about the basics of Humanism, and a drag celebration of diversity. The event description on the whole sounded pretty tame, and seemed like a good enough excuse for members of the LGBTQ community in a small town to share space and enjoy a nice Saturday afternoon together. However bigots both locally and from out of town had much different plans.
As James Factora reports for Them, multiple crews of white nationalists poured into town to join together in a chorus of hate. The Proud Boys, Patriot Front, White Lives Matter, and the Blood Tribe (a neo-Nazi group that wore red shirts and flew black swastika flags) all stood alongside conservatives to protest the event. The conservatives who were present did not seem to have any problems at all with the Blood Tribe chanting “F*gs Get The Rope” and “Weimar Conditions, Weimar Solutions” (referencing the Weimar Republic, which preceded and in many ways led to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and the targeting of the LGBTQ community, eventually leading to the holocaust).
For some time now conservatives in the US have continued to toy with the far-right elements present in America. American Mind, a publication of the conservative Claremont Institute, even published a pretty terrifying essay that argues that “America, as an identity or political movement, might need to carry on without the United States” and that “what [conservatives] need is a counter-revolution.” The essay also explicitly identifies that conservative ideas are unpopular but that shouldn’t stop them from ruling the nation. Then of course you have the less eloquent examples of conservative politicians courting the far right, like Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking at the white nationalist AFPAC in 2022, or Michael Knowles recently calling for the eradication of “Transgenderism” in public life. What happened in Ohio is now the latest in a long line of events that use exterminationist rhetoric when discussing the LGBT community.
Groomer Panic
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a plan was hatched on 4chan titled “Operation Pridefall.” In the world of 4chan, and the chans at large, any kind of “operation” or “op” is usually a loosely organized psychological operation (psy-op) designed to rally chan-users to work together to achieve some type of real-world goal. In the history of the chans, these operations were initially most associated with Anonymous, such as Operation Tunisia which disrupted the Tunisian government during the Arab Spring, or Operation Payback designed to disrupt perceived threats to net neutrality. As chan culture changed over the years and become noticeably more reactionary, these operations shifted to spreading hate and disinformation.
Operation Pridefall was organized to disincentivize brands and companies from making Pride posts during the month of June in 2020. Part of their strategy was to spread the conspiracy theory that the LGBT community was full of people who were grooming children to become gay, or that the LGBT community was secretly full of pedophiles. While this was only marginally successful in 2020, the rhetoric and tactics that were used became the weapon of choice for the far right.
As the language spread through online hate communities, it sprang into the mainstream discourse in early 2022 when Florida was passing its now infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Far right extremists like Jack Posobiec spread the language online, where it was then picked up by mainstream bigots like Marjorie Taylor Greene who used the term to villainize a gay political opponent. Since then it has spread rapidly through the far right and the rhetoric has escalated to calls for a ban on drag performances in the state of Texas, and calls to block gender affirming care for trans people.
A Wave of Hate
Hateful policy and legislation are damaging enough in their own right, functioning as a form of soft cruelty ratified by the State that can oppress and villainize people for years on end. However when hateful policy and legislation are read into law, and when hateful rhetoric dominates the public square, hateful actions by citizens are bound to follow. From 2020 to 2022 the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) noted that anti-LGBT incidents more than tripled from 2021 to 2022
Among the incidents that have occurred since the sharp rise in hateful rhetoric, protests outside of drag events have been the action du jour. In Texas there have been multiple events where armed right wingers have shown up outside of drag performances to protest “groomers.” The events in Wadsworth, Ohio are now the latest in a slew of ugly protests that have at times given rise to violence.
During these protests the usual suspects consistently pop up: The Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and armed Militia groups proclaiming the virtues of “Freedom” while simultaneously denying American citizens the freedom to express who they are; the freedom to live as their gender. In a curious turn of events these same groups, who often pay lip service to the ideas of limited government and less government involvement in our personal lives, are demanding that Americans be forced to conform to the gender that they are assigned by the Government at time of birth.
Pushing Back Against Bigotry
While many showed up in Wadsworth to try and shut down the drag event, they were ultimately unsuccessful. The event organizers were able to raise money for the B. Riley House in Cleveland, a non-profit that focuses on offers cultural informed substance use programs to the LGBTQ+ community ranging from in patient drug and alcohol treatment, all the way up to independent living facilities. Given the events that queer communities in Ohio and around the country find themselves contending with, I encourage readers to donate to the B. Riley House here.
Its also important to remember that while times are difficult right now, we need to live like there is a future. When times are dark its easy to slip into nihilism, or feel like there’s nothing left. When we fall into these patterns of thinking it can put us into a frozen state of inaction. Bigotry counts on this, because it isolates us. Three years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early days, I found myself asking “What if theres no tomorrow? What if this is all that’s left?” To spare you a longer story, that line of thinking did a number on my brain. These days, especially when things feel dark, I have found myself asking “What if we make it through this? How do we support each other and stay connected when we make it to the other side?” I know that things can feel hopeless, but if you find yourself feeling isolated know that you are not alone. If you need help, you can find the national suicide and crisis line here, if you need queer informed services you can reach the Trevor Project here, and if you just need to feel a little happier, you can find some amazing queer and POC ska right here.