Investigative reports - white nationalist in 4 states coordinated attacks against drag queens in 4 states simultaneously

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Neo-Nazis, , militiamen, Christian nationalists, and culture warriors in at least four states mobilized to shut down and intimidate events involving drag queens over the weekend.

In Columbus, Ohio, a Unitarian Church was forced to cancel a planned Drag Queen Story Hour event when a coalition of other far-right groups showed up to intimidate it.

At least 50 showed up in their “colors,” some of whom wore tactical vests and covered their faces with masks and ski goggles, according to videos posted to social media by videographer Brendan Gutenschwager.



Patriot Front also joined the fray, as well as a group of armed men in camouflage.

About 15 others affiliated with the network “White Lives Matter” showed up waving their flag—a white square with a cross in the corner—and performed Hitler salutes. Some members of that group also held a large homemade banner that read “Groomers Not Welcome.”



It’s been two weeks since a 22-year-old gunman’s deadly attack on a drag queen’s birthday celebration at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs left five dead.


This year in particular, those attacks have become more persistent and sinister in nature, as the entire Right—fringe militants, to Fox News, to “Libs of TikTok,” and the GOP—coalesced around anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. These groups have seized on not just drag queen story hours but also LGBTQ characters in Disney movies and even LGBTQ teachers wearing Pride badges to school, to push baseless claims about “grooming” children. These narratives have even influenced legislation. State and federal lawmakers have filed record numbers of bills taking aim at LGBTQ rights this year. Recent bills filed in Tennessee and Idaho explicitly seek to ban public drag shows.