Homophobes Use Violence To Disrupt Riverside Pride Festival In California, Captured On Video
Riverside’s Inland Empire Pride festival was disturbed on Sunday, September 4 by extremist right-wing protester outside the auditorium where the event held place. The protest was led by local anti-LGBTQIA+ extremist Chris Reyes and resulted in at least one fight, reports The Riverside Press-Enterprise.
THE ANTI-LGBTQIA+ MOVEMENT IS GROWING BOLDER
Human rights activists report that homophobia and anti-trans sentiment has grown from the local level all the way up to legislative arenas.
The Riverside Pride festival demonstrates the viciousness that anti-gay protestors are willing to show towards queer people and, without security present at the event, many speculate that things could have been worse. In a video posted to YouTube by N2S Contributor Jake Lee Green, protestors and event attendees are shown brawling in the street, macing each other, and hurling homophobic comments.
In the above video, it’s shown that protestors say, “Shut the f*ck up AIDS, get back AIDS. Shut up pedophile.”
Moreover, the video shows these protestors with signs that say, “No disgusting pedos/groomers. Nasty Pigs,” and, “Stop grooming our kids. We the people know your agenda.” These extremists organised online after the Riverside Pride event was announced. Local Inland Empire citizens were seen conversing online about their protest, which prompted authorities and organisers to boost security for the LGBTQIA+ festival, reports Los Angeles Blade.
These demonstrators made the event environment hostile and fearful, which was the exact opposite of the organisers’ intentions. Those who were in attendance were separated from the protestors by security checkpoints surrounding the Riverside Municipal Auditorium with elevated police presence outside the event.
This is the very reason LGBTQIA+ people need festivals and Pride events; to allow bigotry and misinformation to thrive unchecked would be devastating to our community.
