White Supremacists Protest/Assault Pride Attendees In Montana

The LGBTQ community in Bozeman, Montana, held its first formal Pride event in over a decade on Saturday, May 20. But a group of white supremacists – bravely wearing white masks and sunglasses to hide their identity – showed up to harass and taunt the LGBTQ attendees with signs that read “Pedophiles not welcome,” “Tra***es kill kids,” and “White lives matter.” From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:

About an hour into the event, as community organizations gathered at Soroptimist Park, a group of about 20 white supremacists showed up and started chanting hateful, anti-LGBTQ+ statements at the crowd. Many of them had their faces covered and held signs with racist and homophobic slogans.

Many pride attendees simply ignored them, or tried to block them from the rest of the park. Alotta Shadow — an organizer of the event going by her drag name — said they were bothered by the protesters, but resolved to continue with the event.

“I think it’s ridiculous to have people’s safety put at risk simply for being themselves,” Shadow said. “It’s unfortunate, it’s a reality. But we’re queer, we’re here, we’re not going away, and we will not be silenced. And we’ll be here for the rest of eternity.”

https://twitter.com/ZoAndBehold/status/1660035998229692419 One man, Joseph Wood, was handed a flyer by one of the protesters during the Pride Stroll. When he ignored the messaging, the interaction escalated as another white supremacist tried blocking Wood’s path. Angry words were exchanged, and one hater bashed Wood with a shield while another pepper-sprayed him. Related: Montana Man Guilty Of Hate Crime After Firing Assault Rifle Into Lesbian’s Home For the most part, though, the queer folks ignored the white supremacists although they did dance and sing along to “I Will Survive” and “Born This Way” in front of the haters, but hey – it was a Pride event. And the kids danced on… After speeches in front of the Bozeman Public Library wrapped up, including Mayor Cyndy Andrus, the crowd spread throughout downtown for a block party, resource fair, drag story hour and deals and specials at local businesses. https://twitter.com/BobBrigham/status/1659999265631137792

More Nazi pics from #Bozeman, #Montana. pic.twitter.com/21PzPm8zDx

— Bob Brigham (@BobBrigham) May 20, 2023

Today’s #Nazi march in #Bozeman occurred 26 years after we held Montana’s first Pride celebration. It was joyous.

It used to be a great town, but it has been in a death spiral and this is just the latest data point documenting the decline.#RIPBozeman pic.twitter.com/VBcTWbpuC6 — Bob Brigham (@BobBrigham) May 20, 2023

Cowardly masked nazis showed up to #Bozeman pride. Cult of bored, brainwashed incels. pic.twitter.com/puDSYvffii

— Cappy Bunn 🚀☀️✨ (@astro_bunn) May 20, 2023