LGBT activists are protesting a far-right rally with dancing and rainbow confetti
Enrique Tarrio attended the violent “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
As far-right protesters prepare to take to the streets of Washington DC for the second Unite the Right rally, one group of LGBT+ activists is fighting back with dancing and rainbow confetti.
The group, which calls itself ResisDance, will be taking to the streets to protest the rally, and promise to drown the far-right protesters out with “bumpin’ beats and lots of rainbow biodegradable confetti.”
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Today’s rally comes exactly a year after the group’s first Unite the Right demonstration, which took place in Charlottesville with devastating consequences. Heather Heyer, a counter-protester at the event, was killed when a far-right rally-goer drove his car into a group of people. Dozens more were injured.
Despite the violence that took place in Charlottesville last year, a number of counter-protests to the far-right rally have already been organised, with groups like Black Lives Matter DC preparing to take a stand.
On their Facebook event page, the group of LGBT+ activists who are staging their dancing protest ask trans and queer people to “join your friends, neighbours, and fabulous strangers for the ResisDance.”
“While Nazis and white supremacists spread an ideology of racism and genocide, we are here to fiercely and unapologetically celebrate our communities and our existence.”
The group says it is taking steps to ensure that it is as safe an environment as possible for LGBT+ protesters, however they recognise that they are “dealing with people whose ideology encourages (and necessitates) violence.
“We want to acknowledge this risk and share that we’re taking precautions for our protection while also recognising the vital importance of resisting.”
“We’re trans. We’re queer. We’re fabulous. We’re sick of your Nazi s**t,” they conclude.
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Last year’s Unite the Right rally saw violence as well as homophobia, with a viral video showing protesters chanting: “F**k you faggots.”
Donald Trump caused an uproar after the event last year when he seemed to suggest that both sides were responsible for the violence.
The Southern Poverty Law Centre said the protest was the “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades in the United States”.
Charlottesville’s mayor at the time, Mike Signer, apologised in the aftermath of the rally, which he called a “cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance.”
Meanwhile, Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, told CBS news yesterday that people should not “respond to the violence”, and added that there was “no place for hate.”
