The Alt-Right Are No Allies of LGBT Americans. Obviously.

The recent alt-right movement of American nationalists, white supremacists, and online trolls is by definition opposed to most minority groups – Muslims and Hispanic immigrants most prominently. But some in the movement purport to be LGBT allies, defenders of gays and lesbians against other minorities who would do them harm. They’re lying; I found out first hand this week.

One of the primary talking points in favor of alt-right/LGBT synergy is their support of the Assad regime in Syria. “Wut?”, you might say. The argument is indirect to be sure. ISIS persecutes and kills gays, Assad opposes ISIS (but not really), the alt-right supports Assad, therefore the alt-right supports gays.

As absurd as this argument is, they extend it even further to their general opposition of Muslims as a whole.

This is what we call “concern trolling”. This person and his allies do not actually care about me or my LGBT family, but are feigning concern in an effort to undermine my argument. Everything else they say proves it.

These people are virulently anti-LGBT, just like they’re anti-anyone who isn’t like them. They point to gay friends like Milo Yannopolis and insist they’re okay with anyone of any orientation…so long as they agree with them. The minute an Other – a racial minority, a non-Christian, or in my case, a bisexual – disagrees with strident nationalism, the epithets start rolling.

It’s textbook bigotry. They aren’t actually tolerant of other races, religions, or orientations; they’re only tolerant of people who think like them. But then again, there’s some evidence that’s an attribute not just limited to the alt-right. Tribalism is a cancer, and it’s spreading.