“It’s eye-opening to see the lengths that people are going to to shut us down,” show host Salem Moon tells me before going backstage to change into her outfit for the night. Inside Tulips, the event goes on to a packed house. Various elements of the far right had mobilized on the messaging app Telegram to protest the event, the JBGC members tell me, but rainstorms and a miscommunication about the start time have kept turnout low. Having armed groups on both sides raises the deadly possibility of a shootout, and puts the more-militant gun clubs in the rare position, for those on the left, of matching the violent tactics of the far right.Īt the drag trivia hour, fortunately, things don’t get ugly. “If you bring weapons, you’re gearing up for a fight,” as Jason puts it. The presence of guns at a protest - or counterprotest - is a clear escalation of force. ON MONDAY, JASON, the owner of Tulips FTW, met with the Elm Fork JBGC before the protesters showed up, and asked them to leave their rifles in their cars. “We are a response,” one JBGC member says.

Last year, The New York Times analyzed more than 700 armed demonstrations across the country, and found that the right wing was responsible for bringing heat to 77 percent of them, protesting everything from LGBTQ rights to Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.Ī JBGC member outside of a drag show.

And where the far right goes, so do their guns: Militias, gangs, and other groups have been open-carrying firearms at public protests, showing up to drag events and government buildings toting weapons of war. Some white nationalists and virulent evangelicals have seized upon trans panic to mobilize new recruits, bolstered by the issue’s embrace by mainstream politicians like Ron DeSantis. This accusation has no statistical basis or grounds in reality, but what it does have is the ability to make people really, really mad - and for the worst elements of the far right, that’s an opportunity. For the past year, the conservative movement has zeroed in on the LGBTQ community, specifically targeting trans people and drag queens, who they claim “groom” children into a life of abuse and sin. If you’re looking for the front line in America’s sprawling culture war, this is it. Two bouncers wearing black T-shirts that say “Welcome home” pat down each attendee and check every bag. It’s clear the staff has been through this chaos before. The event is a weekly all-ages trivia night hosted by a drag queen named Salem Moon. In spite of the tension building all around them, they cheer, dance, and blow soap bubbles into the air. I notice for the first time the outline of a compact pistol in a concealed holster in the front of his waistband.Įvery Awful Thing Trump Has Promised to Do in a Second TermĪcross the street, a long line of people wait to enter the drag show inside the music venue Tulips FTW. “That’s assault!” the white nationalist shrieks, backing away. Suddenly, the white nationalist’s mirrored sunglasses fly off his head in a glittering arc, landing in the middle of the street.

The black-clad figures are up in the white nationalist’s face.

It’s a Monday afternoon in Fort Worth, Texas, and the group in all black are mostly members of the Elm Fork chapter of the John Brown Gun Club (JBGC), a left-wing anti-fascist organization created to level the playing field with right-wing militias that show up armed to protests around the country. He and his friend - two white men, probably in their early twenties, with baseball hats, and faces masked by the kind of stretchy gaiters middle-aged guys wear on fishing boats - hold a big sign with bold, black letters: “Pedophiles get the rope.” But their expressions change as they’re suddenly surrounded by figures dressed in all-black with combat boots, military helmets, balaclavas, body armor, and tinted goggles, their gloved hands balled into fists. The young white nationalist across the street from the drag show starts to panic.

Keep calm carry guns on back tshir