The Man in Teal

The MO of violence at the anti-Pride protest last week in Glendale, CA

Last week in Glendale, California, the Glendale School Board was conducting a vote whether to acknowledge Pride Month, just as it had done the previous three years.

Normally a routine voting process, this time the vote was punctuated by hundreds of protestors — people demanding that gender diversity not be taught or acknowledged in Glendale public schools — and counter-protestors, e.g., people who support LGBQTIA+ rights and inclusivity in public education.

The protest and counter-protest turned violent, and broke out into a brawl.

The United States has been seeing an increase in anti-LGBTQIA+ activity over the past several years, from federal lawmakers all the way down to local committees. It has become so severe, that earlier in the week the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization declared a national state of emergency for members of the LGBTQ+ community for the first time in its four-decade history.

In Glendale, a significant part of the anti-LGTQIA+ protestors were known Proud Boy agitators, members of the far-right neo-fascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence.