Orlando, FL— Several white supremacist Telegram channels have been sharing information about an upcoming drag story hour event at Orlando’s LGBT+ Center on October 29, 2022.
This includes the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM), whose members claim they will protest the event in person.
The NSM is part of Florida’s overlapping white supremacist network that also includes the antisemitic Goyim Defense League (GDL). In January 2022, more than a dozen individuals associated with this network participated in a neo-Nazi demonstration in Orlando, during which several of the attendees spat on, pepper-sprayed and punched a Jewish man who stopped to confront the group. In February 2022, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested and charged three people for their alleged roles in the hate crime assault.
The NSM is known for wearing black utility uniforms with swastika arm bands. It is recommended that if you see NSM members or other white supremacist groups or their propaganda, please avoid them and report it to law enforcement and to the ADL at this link.
Due to this targeting of The LGBT+ Center of Orlando, the organization has canceled their Saturday event in Representative Anna V. Eskamani’s district. Here is her response.
“Words cannot adequately express my disgust for Nazis. These threats of violence targeting both the LGBTQ+ community and Jewish community have become all too common in the United States and in Florida. We must stand together — across party lines — to oppose this hatred and bigotry. I urge everyone who shares in my outrage to speak up against the rise of homophobia, transphobia, anti-semitism and fascism in our society. I also urge you to please vote for leaders that don’t empower this behavior and instead vote for those who work to unify us, vs divide.”
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