The far-right Proud Boys have ramped up a campaign aimed specifically at attacking LGBTQ rights and reproductive justice. A member of the Proud Boys stands between a group of anti-abortion people attending a celebration and a group of protesters demanding the right to abortion outside the Idaho Statehouse in Boise, Idaho, on June 28. (Photo by Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman via AP Images) In the first six months of 2022, the Proud Boys counterprotested or harassed people on at least 28 separate occasions at LGBTQ and reproductive justice events around the country – together acting as a coordinated attack on gender equity and bodily autonomy. Their activity rose significantly in June as they targeted Pride activities. In that month alone, members of the Proud Boys gathered to protest or harass attendees at 14 different LGBTQ and reproductive justice-oriented events. The Proud Boys currently face intense scrutiny for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. More than 40 members face charges related to their alleged activities on Jan. 6, including charges of seditious conspiracy brought against their former chairman and several other leaders. But that legal pressure has not slowed the group’s activities. To the contrary, the past 18 months since the insurrection has been the most active period in the group’s history. Last year, their ranks swelled to 72 chapters, up from 43 in 2020. While the Proud Boys once fashioned themselves largely as a street-fighting gang, hosting rallies across the country where they hoped to clash with antifascist counterprotesters, they diversified their activity after Jan. 6. The group largely eschewed hosting their own demonstrations in favor of involving themselves in local politics and civic events. Members have attended city council and school board meetings, participated in parades and joined rallies hosted by a variety of organizations. Their activities have focused on the issues most likely to drive right-wing outrage and, in turn, to help the group forge new coalitions. These issues include masking, vaccines, “critical race theory” and inclusive educational curricula and policies. But over the past six months, the Proud Boys’ attention has shifted toward a tightly focused campaign of transphobia, homophobia and misogyny. These hateful sentiments have always helped fuel the far right, but they currently sit at the forefront of its organizational efforts. To understand why, one needs only to look to the GOP. A growing radical wing of the party has in recent months embraced militant opposition to LGBTQ people and reproductive rights – a position reflected most clearly in in their legislative assault on trans people and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Proud Boys’ harassment and violence now help reinforce a multi-fronted attack against those fighting for bodily autonomy, racial equity and democracy, and their current activities are a sign of how tightly interwoven extremist activists such as the Proud Boys have become with the GOP. On June 26, library patrons attending a drag queen story hour at a public library in Sparks, Nevada, encountered what has now become an increasingly regular sight: a group of men clad in the Proud Boys’ black-and-yellow uniform. They held signs that accused participants of “grooming” children and yelled at parents that they were “sick.” One of those Proud Boys allegedly approached the building with a gun, causing patrons – including a number of children – to flee inside to safety. “We had some people who were visibly shaken and sobbing,” a librarian told a local reporter.
via splcenter: Proud Boys Aid the Right-Wing Assault on the LGBTQ Community and Reproductive Justice