Jacksonville, FL: Community Pushes Back Against Proud Boys

Action report on community defense of a local drag event that was threatened by the Proud Boys in Jacksonville, Florida. Originally published by Iron Snowflake. 

On the 18th of December, the Proud Boys descended on a venue putting on a drag show in Jacksonville, FL. Defenders prepared for the worst and safely got people inside as the fascists rallied on the street outside, holding signs and chanting. Before the show could even begin however, the Proud Boys ended their protest, possibly to watch football or soccer. There was no sign of them at the Shell station where they had parked their cars.

From Tequesta Black Star: “Dozens of anarchists, antifascists, and LGBT+ community members mobilized in Jacksonville to counter a Proud Boy incursion against a drag show, successfully stopping any approach to the event and dropping a banner in the area to make it clear to fascists how welcome they are in Jacksonville.”

Reports that they were awaiting reinforcements and would then attempt to storm the venue came to nothing. Instead, a few of them returned “out of uniform,” and attempted to infiltrate the event in pairs. Not a single pair of them managed to get inside, and the event took place with zero disruption all the way to the end. When the Proud Boys left early, defenders moved into the space that they had abandoned and took it over, holding signs and flying Pride and Trans flags.

The Proud Boys had a specific demand: that LGBTQ+ youth under age 18 be excluded and presumably that IDs be checked. This demand was defied and the Proud Boys held at bay. 18+ shows have also been harassed by the far-Right, and submitting to ANY demand would only bring new ones. Fascists and neo-Nazis cannot be appeased, only resisted whatever the cost and whatever it takes.