By Reynaldo Mena
First, it was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed four bills restricting LGBTQ rights, including a measure that expands what critics have called the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and another that will ban transition-related care for minors. He also signed a bill that will bar trans people from using public facilities that align with their gender identities and another that will restrict “adult” performances in front of minors. He said the latter measure was intended to limit drag performances.
Then came the Dodgers, who had to backtrack and announced that an LGBTQIA+ group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will again be welcome at the team’s annual Pride Night, nearly a week after the team rescinded its original invitation. And also Target, which announced that it was removing some of the LGBTQ merchandise from its annual Pride Month collection after receiving threats and backlash.
Extremism experts and LGBTQ advocates warned that removing merchandise could be seen as a success by anti-LGBTQ extremists and violent protesters, which could lead to copycat behavior threatening the already marginalized community. Several Targets also received bomb threats over Memorial Day weekend related to the controversy, according to Cleveland 19 News. The threats reportedly called for the return of LGBTQ+ items to the shelves, according to the local news outlet, which said it received the bomb threats.
“I think this will embolden alt-right actors, who now are going to believe that with social media campaigns and targeted actions against retailers that they can proceed in limiting the visibility of LGBTQ people,” said Sophie Bjork-James, a professor at Vanderbilt University, who researches the white nationalist movement, in an interview. And just days ago, an LGBTQ flag was burned at an elementary school in California earlier this month ahead of a Pride event, and police are investigating the incident as a hate crime, authorities said. Someone broke into Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood during the weekend preceding May 22 and burned the flag, according to the Los Angeles Unified School District.
This year, undoubtedly, LGBTQ Pride Month, which begins on June 1st, will be marked by controversy, controversy, and hate attacks. The rise coincides with political rhetoric targeting and demonizing the LGBTQ+ community, as well as legislative efforts targeting LGBTQ+ rights to gender-affirming care and inclusion in education.
Drag shows, drag story hours, even children’s hospitals, as well as other LGBTQ+ pride events, have faced death threats, bomb threats, and protesters in recent years. In November, a Colorado LGBTQ+ bar was the site of a mass shooting, stoking heightened fear within the community.
Michael Edison Hayden, a senior investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center, believes extremists are making calculated efforts to redefine LGBTQ+ Pride as a “toxic” or dangerous thing. Bomb threats, he said, are intended to scare the community and its supporters into silence. “It’s a real concern,” said Hayden. “Bigots feel emboldened largely because of mainstream politicians giving them a pat on the back,” referring to some conservative political and media figures who have recently resurfaced harmful stereotypes against LGBTQ+ people.
The Department of Homeland Security said that intensifying waves of threats and calls of violence against the LGBTQIA+ community could lead to a rise in potential attacks against larger targets, such as public spaces and healthcare sites that may be linked to the community.
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