Rainbow Railroad Details Taliban Treatment of LGBTQI+ Persons

Rainbow Railroad Releases Important Report Detailing Taliban Treatment of LGBTQI+ Persons

On December 19th, Rainbow Railroad released “No Safe Way Out: Human Rights Violations Against LGBTQI+ people under the Taliban”. The report provides qualitative analysis based on 1,739 requests for help submitted to Rainbow Railroad between August 2021 and August 2022. Accounts from individuals throughout the report describe coordinated and repeated tactics used by the Taliban to target and persecute LGBTQI+ communities. For the first time based on requests for help, Rainbow Railroad is able to provide details on the extreme violence towards LGBTQI+ people and those who support them perpetrated by the Taliban.

These findings corroborate and update earlier reports of abuses against LGBTQI+ people by the Taliban.

“In writing this report, it became clear how all-encompassing the threats are towards LGBTQI+ people in Afghanistan under Taliban rule,” said Kathryn Hampton, the primary author of the report and Head of Impact at Rainbow Railroad. “This report is a jarring summary of violence faced by individuals suspected of being members of the LGBTQI+ community – violence they’re facing just for being who they are, or loving who they love. Conducting this research was heartbreaking and deeply alarming. Our recommendations are even more urgent following disturbing recent reports by Taliban officials of public floggings of LGBTQI+ people before thousands of onlookers.”

According to individuals who have reached out to Rainbow Railroad for help, the Taliban is targeting LGBTQI+ people due to their sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, or sex characteristics. Individual accounts included in this report detail multiple tactics used by the Taliban to identify and find LGBTQI+ people, including identifying them from social media photos or videos, during searches of belongings and cellphones at checkpoints, and through emboldening community members to surveil and report on LGBTQI+ people. The report details how individuals are encouraged to report on their own friends, colleagues and family members if they are suspected of being LGBTQI+, or risk facing punishment themselves.

A number of LGBTQI+ people reported being beaten and subject to physical violence by the Taliban both inside of, and concerningly, outside of detention settings, either in their homes during an unlawful search, or in public places to ‘make an example’ of members of the LGBTQI+ community. Rape and sexual violence were mentioned in many requests for help, including sexual assault by family,community members, and members of the Taliban themselves in an environment of impunity.

Rainbow Railroad also reviewed several documents, reportedly issued by Taliban officials, which indicate that these violent incidents may even be coordinated actions based on official Taliban policies.

“This report demonstrates the extreme risk that LGBTQI+ Afghans are facing everyday. Those reaching out to Rainbow Railroad are in serious danger,” said Rainbow Railroad Executive Director Kimahli Powell. “We have hundreds of LGBTQI+ Afghans who are at severe risk ready to travel. It’s up to governments, including the governments of Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, to partner with us to respond urgently.”

In the first year of Taliban rule, from August 15, 2021 until August 22, 2022, Rainbow Railroad received 3,797 requests for help from LGBTQI+ Afghans. Rainbow Railroad has facilitated the relocation of 247 Afghans for resettlement to safer countries since August 2021, and have also provided 648 Afghans with financial assistance, shelter support, mental health support, and other forms of assistance.

View (or download) the report below:

2022 LGBTQ Community Center Report

2022 LGBTQ Community Centers Report

The 2022 LGBTQ Community Center Survey Report, prepared jointly by MAP and CenterLink and published every two years, provides an overview of local lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community centers, including their capacity, their programs and services, the people they serve, and their major challenges and opportunities.

This year, the report surveyed 208 centers located in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and provides a crucial snapshot of the centers that provide vital services, programs, and advocacy for LGBTQ people. 

ADL and GLAAD Partner to Counter Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism and Hate

ADL and GLAAD Partner to Counter Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism and Hate

ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today announced a new partnership to counter anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and hate in the United States. The two organizations are joining together to sharpen their focus on hate and extremism targeting the LGBTQ+ community, which has experienced thousands of hate crimes in recent years, according to the FBI. This partnership will increase ADL and GLAAD’s ability to monitor, expose and disrupt anti-LGBTQ+ hate by hiring a new analyst dedicated to tracking and countering threats against the LGBTQ+ community.

“The LGBTQ+ community is under attack in the United States,” said Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism. “ADL has tracked disturbing incidents and trends in anti-LGBTQ+ hate in person and online in just the last few months, including physical violence, death threats, intimidation, doxing, conspiracy theories, misinformation and more. We are grateful to partner with GLAAD, an organization that has led the fight for LGBTQ+ equality for decades, to support a new role dedicated to understanding and countering this pernicious threat.”

The partnership will enhance both organizations’ abilities to track extremist activity and hate incidents, produce reports and resources to educate key stakeholders and the public about trends and developments, and alert law enforcement and community organizations to threats targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and institutions.

“ADL is a true leader in tracking and stopping hate and extremism and this is an urgent time to protect the LGBTQ community by further growing this impactful work. LGBTQ people face alarming and disproportionate levels of hate and harassment on social media and it’s rapidly moving offline,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “You can draw a direct line from anti-LGBTQ content and accounts on social media to real world violence: from extremists showing up at drag shows to vandalism at LGBTQ community centers to bomb threats being called into children’s hospitals that care for transgender youth. This new partnership will help GLAAD and the entire LGBTQ movement in identifying and reporting the growing rates of anti-LGBTQ violence before it happens.”

ADL has worked for decades to protect the LGBTQ+ community, including filing amicus briefs encouraging courts to end discrimination, promoting legislation like the Equality Act and playing a leading role in securing enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) in 2009 – the first time gender identity was included in a federal civil rights law.

For nearly 40 years, GLAAD has been at the forefront of cultural change, accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. The GLAAD Media Institute tells LGBTQ stories that create change and is a go-to resource on LGBTQ representation for leading journalists, brands, entertainment, gaming creators, elected officials, and other notables. GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Project produces an annual Social Media Safety Index, which this year gave failing grades to five leading social media platforms on LGBTQ safety. The program works with platforms on LGBTQ policies and enforcement, such as TikTok’s recent move to prohibit promotion of conversion therapy and to protect transgender users from targeted misgendering and deadnaming.

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ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.

Governor Newsom Signs Legislation Strengthening Protections for LGBTQ+ Californians

Equality California

Equality California Press Release

SACRAMENTO —  Governor Newsom signed SB 107, legislation co-sponsored by Equality California and Planned Parenthood on gender affirming health care, today. In addition, Governor Newsom signed the following Equality California sponsored bills, SB 923 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) – Gender-affirming care, AB 1041 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) – Leave for Chosen Families, AB 2417 by Assemblymember Philip Ting (D-San Francisco) – Juveniles: Youth Bill of Rights and SB 1194 by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica) – All Gender Public Restrooms.

“While small minded men like Greg Abbot and Ron Desantis attack trans children and their families, Governor Newsom ensures that they are protected and receive the necessary life saving health care they need. SB 107 officially makes California a state of refuge for trans kids and their families,” said Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “SB 107 will continue California’s legacy of leadership in protecting and advancing the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ communities in a time when we cannot take our rights and protections for granted.”

“Extreme politicians across the country are openly attacking trans youth and their families like never before, but thanks to today’s action by Governor Newsom and the leadership by Senator Scott Weiner, SB 107 provides reassurance that California will be a place where people can get the care they need,” said Jodi Hicks, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “We stand in solidarity with our friends and colleagues at EQCA and LGBTQ+ communities across the country. California Planned Parenthood health centers are committed to providing care, including gender-affirming care and LBGTQ+ services, to all who come through their doors – regardless of where they call home.”

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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. We bring the voices of LGBTQ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. www.eqca.org

2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

2022 Youth Survey

Amit Paley (he/him)
CEO & Executive Director
The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health demonstrates that rates of suicidal thoughts have trended upward among LGBTQ young people over the last three years, making our life-saving work all the more important.

Capturing the experiences of nearly 34,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 across the United States, with 45% of respondents being LGBTQ youth of color and 48% being transgender or nonbinary, our fourth annual national survey is one of the most diverse surveys of LGBTQ youth ever conducted.

These data provide critical insights into some of the unique suicide risk factors faced by LGBTQ youth, top barriers to mental health care, and the negative impacts of COVID-19 and relentless anti-transgender legislation. This research also highlights several ways in which we can all support the LGBTQ young people in our lives—and help prevent suicide.

It’s essential to emphasize that we still do not have known counts or registries of the LGBTQ youth population—and comprehensive, intersectional data on LGBTQ youth mental health outcomes remain limited. So our annual national survey strives to fill in these gaps and amplify the experiences of young LGBTQ people, a marginalized group consistently found to be at significantly increased risk for suicide because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.

We hope these data and trends will be used by fellow researchers, policymakers, and youth-serving organizations to advance policies and practices that better support LGBTQ youth around the globe and work to end the public health crisis of suicide.

Over the next year, The Trevor Project will release new data from this diverse, national sample in the form of research briefs and research reports on a wide variety of topics related to LGBTQ youth mental health and suicide prevention. And as always, we will continue to do all we can to advocate for LGBTQ-inclusive policies, raise public awareness and acceptance, and be there for every single LGBTQ young person who needs help or support, 24/7.

Amit Paley (he/him)
CEO & Executive Director
The Trevor Project

Download the full report here:

Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus Congratulates Endorsed Candidates

Florida LGBTQ+ Caucus

The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus congratulates its endorsed candidates who won their primaries on August 23rd. The Caucus endorsed in specific races, and echoed several endorsements that came from our chapters. Caucus President Stephen Gaskill issued the following statement:

“Florida Democrats are on the offensive this cycle. We’re taking on the Republicans for their poor management of state government, neglect of key economic issues like the property insurance crisis, support for anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and fealty to authoritarians like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. 2022 will be a Democratic success.”

Caucus Campaign Director Dave Cutler congratulated the candidates:

“Congratulations to our endorsed candidates who won their primaries yesterday. These candidates have demonstrated their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality and have earned voters’ trust. We look forward to helping ensure their victories in November.”

Among our victorious endorsed candidates with primaries are:

Statewide Candidates

Val Demings, US Senate
Aramis Ayala, Attorney General

Congressional Incumbents

Rep. Kathy Castor
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
Rep. Frederica Wilson
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Congressional Challengers/Open Seats

CD-3 Danielle Hawk
CD-10 Maxwell Frost
CD-23 Jared Moskowitz
CD-27 Annette Taddeo
CD-28 Robert Asencio

Florida Senate Candidates

SD-5 Tracie Davis
SD-34 Shevrin Jones
SD-35 Lauren Book

Florida House Candidates

HD-13 Angie Nixon
HD-22 Brandon Peters
HD-36 Deborah Poulalion
HD-38 Sarah Henry
HD-40 LaVon Bracy Davi
HD-58 Bernard Fensterwald
HD-62 Michele Rayner
HD-92 Kelly Skidmore
HD-98 Paula Hawkins-Williams
HD-105 Marie Woodson
HD-106 Jordan Leonard
HD-109 Ashley Gantt
HD-113 AJ D’Amico
HD-119 Gabriel Gonzalez

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The Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus represents lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Floridians to the Florida Democratic Party. The Caucus is a statewide organization with chapters in 25 counties across Florida from Pensacola to Orlando to Miami – including most major metropolitan areas and many rural counties in between.

Gender and Sexuality Pride Flags

Gender and Sexuality Pride Flags

Here is a quick guide to some of the most common flags used in the LGBT community (and beyond) to describe gender and/or sexuality related identities.  While definitions are provided for reference, please know definitions of many of these terms are evolving and changing all the time.  I encourage you to explore these identities further to learn more.

Agender Pride Flag

Agender Pride Flag
Agender Pride Flag

Agender refers to a person A person who does not identify themselves as. having a particular gender.  The Agender Pride Flag was designed by Salem X in 2014. 

The flag features a mirrored design of seven horizontal stripes. The black and white stripes represent an absence of gender, the gray stripe represents semi-genderlessness and the central green stripe represents nonbinary genders.

Asexual Pride Flag

Asexual Pride Flag
Asexual Pride Flag

An aromantic is a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others. Where romantic people have an emotional need to be with another person in a romantic relationship, aromantics are often satisfied with friendships and other non-romantic relationships.  An asexual person may or may not experience romantic attraction (see aromantic) but will feel no need to act out that attraction sexually.

In the Summer of 2010, a number of asexuality sites, led by users on AVEN, came up with a number of designs for an asexuality flag, then held a multi-stage vote to determine the winner.  The selected design was created by AVEN user standup

Aromantic Pride Flag

Aromantic Pride Flag
Aromantic Pride Flag

An aromantic is a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others.  Where romantic people have an emotional need to be with another person in a romantic relationship, aromantics are often satisfied with friendships and other non-romantic relationships.

There are two different versions of the Aromantic Pride Flag.  This is the one currently most commonly used.

Bisexual Pride Flag

Bisexual Pride Flag
Bisexual Pride Flag

Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior toward more than one sex or gender identity, or romantic or sexual attraction to people of any sex or gender identity; this latter aspect is sometimes termed pansexuality.

The bisexual pride flag was designed by Michael Page in 1998.  The first bisexual pride flag was inspired by his work with BiNet USA.

Bear Pride Flag

Bear Pride Flag
Bear Pride Flag

In male gay culture, a bear is often a larger, hairier man who projects an image of rugged masculinity. Bears are one of many LGBT communities with events, codes, and a culture-specific identity.  In many communities bear clubs” have been created to provide social and sexual opportunities. Many clubs are loosely organized social groups; others are modeled on leather biker-patch clubs, with a strict set of bylaws, membership requirements, and charities.  Craig Byrnes created the Bear pride flag in 1995.

Genderqueer Pride Flag

Genderqueer
Genderqueer Flag

Genderqueer describes a person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders. The Genderqueer Pride Flag was created by Marilyn Roxie in 2011. This flag has also been adopted by many in the Gender Non-Binary community.  While some currently use these two terms interchangeably, others maintain genderqueer and gender non-binary have overlapping, but separate definitions.

Intersex Flag

Intersex Flag
Intersex Flag

Intersex is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. There are two distinct flags commonly associated with intersex identities.  The first one (not pictured here) is derivative of the Trans Pride flag and is not used as commonly these days.  The flag shown here was created by Intersex Australia in 2013.

Lesbian Pride Flag

Lesbian Visibility Flag
Lesbian Visibility Flag

While there have been different versions of the Lesbian Pride Flag over the years, this is the one most commonly used today.  Emily Gwen created this flag in 2018  based on the lickstick lesbian flag . This flag retained the seven stripes from the lipstick flag, but changed the top set to orange shades. The stripes, from top to bottom, represent ‘gender non-conformity’ (dark orange), ‘independence’ (orange), ‘community’ (light orange), ‘unique relationships to womanhood’ (white) , ‘serenity and peace’ (pink), ‘love and sex’ (dusty pink), and ‘femininity’ (dark rose).

Leather Pride Flag

Leather Pride Flag
Leather Pride Flag

Leather culture is most visible in gay communities and most often associated with gay men (“leathermen”), but it is also reflected in various ways in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and straight worlds. Many people associate leather culture with the consensual exchange of power in romantic and/or sexual relationships.  The leather flag was created by Tony DeBlase in 1989.  He first presented the design at the International Mister Leather event in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on May 28, 1989.

Nonbinary Pride Flag

Nonbinary Flag
Nonbinary Flag

Kye Rowan created the nonbinary pride flag in 2014.  It was meant to be flown alongside the genderqueer flag. 17-year-old Kyle Rowan created the binary flag for existing outside binary which is symbolized by the yellow. The white represents all genders, black is no gender, and purple is a mix of genders.

Pansexual Pride Flag

Pansexual Pride Flag
Pansexual Pride Flag

Pansexuals have the capability of attraction to others regardless of their gender identity or biological sex. 

A pansexual could be open to someone who is male, female, transgender, intersex, or agendered/genderqueer.

Poly Pride Flag

Poly Pride Flag
Poly Pride Flag

Polyamory is the philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at the same time. Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.

The flag was created by Jim Evans.

The Rainbow Flag

Rainbow Pride Flag
Rainbow Pride Flag

This is the inclusive flag most frequently associated with the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, & questioning communities.  The original gay pride flag flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978 and was designed by Gilbert Baker.  The original Rainbow Flag had an additional hot pink stripe that is no longer used today.

Progress Pride Flag

Progress Pride Flag by Daniel Quasar
Progress Pride Flag

Graphic designer Daniel Quasar has added a five-colored chevron to the LGBT Rainbow Flag to place a greater emphasis on “inclusion and progression”.

The flag includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized LGBT communities of color, along with the colors pink, light blue and white, which are used on the Transgender Pride Flag.  Quasar’s design builds on a design adopted by the city of Philadelphia in June 2017. Philadelphia’s version added black and brown stripes to the top of the Rainbow Flag, to represent LGBT communities of color.

 

Transgender Pride Flag

Transgender Pride Flag
Transgender Pride Flag

Transgender is a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex the doctor marked on their birth certificate. Gender identity is a person’s internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or someone outside of that gender binary). For transgender people, the sex they were assigned at birth and their own internal gender identity do not match. The Trans Pride flag was designed by Monica Helms in 1999

Straight Ally Flag

Straight Ally Flag
Straight Ally Flag

A straight ally or heterosexual ally is a heterosexual and/or cisgender person who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, LGBT social movements, and challenges homophobia, biphobia and transphobia.

Florida LGBTQ Families Speak Out about Legislation Targeting Classrooms

Florida Families

GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, and Equality Florida are releasing video of LGBTQ families and educators in Florida speaking out about returning to school today with new laws in effect targeting them.

New laws are banning LGBTQ-related conversation in class, books are removed from shelves and state leaders are targeting evidence-based healthcare, despite the fact that every major medical association supports it as safe and lifesaving for transgender youth.

GLAAD’s poll of LGBTQ and ally voters in Florida finds 71% believe the laws’ intent is to attack LGBTQ people; 70% say the laws are emotionally damaging to children.

The poll shows 77% strongly agree it’s more important than ever to vote as human rights for women and LGBTQ Floridians are being taken away by elected state officials, and that 67% are “extremely motivated” to vote in the midterm elections.

77% of LGBTQ and ally voters have an unfavorable opinion of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The 2018 gubernatorial race was decided by 32,463 votes out of 8+ million. LGBTQ and ally voters are positioned to make a decisive difference in Florida’s election this fall. (Read the pollster memo.)

“Florida’s LGBTQ and ally voters must send an unmistakable message that they are not going back in the closet or back in time,” said GLAAD President and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis. “Discriminatory, defamatory and dangerous rhetoric and behavior must stop now.”

“It is imperative that Floridians use the power of their votes to hold Governor DeSantis and his allies accountable for the hate they unleashed on our state,” said Equality Florida Press Secretary, Brandon Wolf.

4.6% of Floridians are LGBTQ; 24% of LGBTQ Floridians are raising children.

About Equality Florida:
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. Visit eqfl.org or follow Equality Florida on Facebook and Twitter.

About GLAAD:
GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. Visit www.glaad.org, connect on Facebook and Twitter, contact: press@glaad.org

Statement by Secretary Granholm on President Biden’s Nomination of Jeff Marootian

Jeff Marootian

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm issued the following statement on President Biden’s intent to nominate Jeff Marootian for Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy: 

“Jeff Marootian has spent the last year and a half helping to build our team at the Department of Energy, and I am pleased that President Biden has now nominated him to serve as our new Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Throughout his impressive career in public service, Jeff has directed big teams executing challenging missions, making him a natural fit to lead the Department’s largest applied energy office. His experience developing and implementing sustainable transportation policy at the federal and local level will be particularly invaluable in our ongoing effort to decarbonize America’s transportation sector and meet our bold clean energy goals.” 

About Jeff Marootian 

Jeff Marootian currently serves as a Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. Prior to his service in the Biden-Harris Administration, he was a member of the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Marootian previously served in Washington D.C. government as the Director of the District Department of Transportation, where he piloted sustainable transportation technologies, oversaw the effort to electrify the city’s Circulator bus fleet, and led the city’s early adoption of the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Marootian oversaw the modernization of hundreds of miles of roads and sidewalks and advanced critical infrastructure projects, such as the reconstruction of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and expansion of dedicated bus and bike lanes.  

Marootian previously served in the Obama-Biden Administration as the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Chief Sustainability Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation. He is an alumnus of The George Washington University where he has also taught as an adjunct faculty member in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Administration. 

GLAAD Responds to Arrest of Suspected White Supremacists at Idaho Pride

Idaho Pride: Arrest of White Supremacists

GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, is responding to the arrest of 31 people accused of conspiracy to riot against a Pride event in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Those arrested are reportedly affiliated with Patriot Front, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group, and are from states across the country including Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. The group was reportedly heading for Coeur d’Alene City Park, where the North Idaho Pride Alliance was hosting its Pride in the Park event yesterday.

Photos and videos show the suspects were in a moving truck, wearing hats, sunglasses, white full face masks, Patriot Front’s signature khaki pants and carrying riot shields.

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis responded on Twitter, and here:
“Lawmakers and Governors like DeSantis and Abbott, along with their co-conspirators at Fox News, better pause today and recognize that their anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and the nearly 250 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced this year are responsible for this dangerous climate. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and social media platforms must also take responsibility and urgently stop fueling the hate and misinformation that inspire white supremacist groups like the Patriot Front. This group was stopped this weekend in Idaho before violence occurred thanks to the critical work of local authorities, but we might not be so lucky the next time one of the growing number of groups like this plan to swarm a LGBTQ location. Today as we mark the sixth remembrance of the 49 beautiful and innocent lives lost at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, we have to stop the shameful anti-LGBTQ laws, misinformation, and rhetoric that make America unsafe for LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. Corporations, media, politicians, have to act now, not send thoughts and prayers in the future.”

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About GLAAD: GLAAD rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. As a dynamic media force, GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and creates a world where everyone can live the life they love. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org or connect with GLAAD on Facebook and Twitter.