Right-wing extremists in the U.S. have organized at least 55 anti-LGBTQ protests this year, the ACLED reports. This is an increase of 340% compared to the 16 anti-LGBTQ protests of 2021. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a group that monitors far-right activity, and warns that this trend is “strongly linked” to an increase in violent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2022, a growing number of extremists have taken their guns to protest at churches & libraries in an effort to intimidate those attending drag queen story hours. Hospitals providing gender affirming care have been targeted by right-wing social media users who are then celebrated on right-wing media for their bigotry. With experts warning that anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric is becoming more prevalent on the internet. The introduction of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation seemingly coincides with rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments online. As studies have found that words like “grooming” become more popular on the internet when legislative attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are made.
Pride celebrations have also been increasingly targeted by right-wing groups this year. In June, 31 members of the neo-Nazi organization Patriot Front were arrested for conspiracy to riot in Idaho. This after concerned citizens made reports of “a little army” of men in riot gear, being loaded into a U-Haul near a Pride event.
In a report released by the FBI earlier this year, the agency warned that white supremacists currently pose the largest threat as foreign terrorism groups have been weakened. The Department of Homeland Security also issued a warning earlier this month concerning the threat that domestic terrorists pose to the LGBTQ+ and other minority communities.
In a statement to Insider, the director of research at ACLED, suggests that perpetrators “have been inspired by the rhetoric that they might be seeing online, and by the mobilization they might be seeing offline.” Adding that, “those people are then deciding to take matters into their own hands and engage in violence.”