White Supremacist 'Straight Pride' Event Now to Take Place in California?

So-called "Straight Pride" is set to be celebrated in Boston next month with a parade that mirrors that of the city's annual LGBTQ Pride Parade - but it seems that "Straight Pride" has already metastasized to the West Coast, with a version of the event under consideration in the California town of Modesto, California.

A much more overtly white supremacist version, that is.

While reports note that the organizers of the Boston event purportedly have ties to white supremacists, the Modesto version reportedly wears its racial prejudice on its sleeve. A CBS News report quotes Modesto City Council member Kristi Ah You noting that, "When you go to the page, it talks about whiteness, it talks about Western civilization, it talks about being Caucasian."

You characterized the organization's focus on racial identity as "hate crime stuff." But while the group's web page bizarrely conflates "straight pride" with racial identity, it also takes direct aim at the LGBTQ community, doing so in terms that suggest an underlying violent intent. The "Our War Activities" section includes text that mischaracterizes "Drag Time Story Hour," falsely claiming that the activity is sponsored by NAMBLA (a long-discredited group promoting sexual contact between adults and children) and claiming that the story hour is "an extremely advance Social Engineering form of child molestation." The site's home page, meanwhile, sports an array of thumbnail photos of infants, accompanied by the headline "Save the Next Generation of Babies."

Reached for comment by CBS News, failed politician Don Grundmann, the man behind the so-called "National Straight Pride Coalition" - which so far is limited to California - seemed to confuse the LGBTQ community with a faith tradition, telling CBS, "Essentially it boils down to two religious views of the world."

Grundmann went on to posit: "One is Christianity, which is represented by heterosexuality, a culture of life, and its opponent is the LGBT movement, which is represented by an opposing religion and an opposing view of life."

It's unclear from this grab-bag of extreme-right talking points exactly what the group's philosophy or intentions are... outside of its need to talk itself up, that is. Without mentioning the "Straight Pride" parade due to take place in Boston, the National Straight Pride Coalition's website refers to its own proposed event as "the 1st true 'Straight Pride Parade/Event' in the nation."

Elsewhere on its site, the group says that it promotes "the inherent superiority" of a number of extreme-right views, including the idea that "Western Civilization" is naturally better than other civilizations ("the West is the Best," the site proclaims), and the notion that "Whiteness/Caucasian" occupies a more exalted status than other racial demographics since, the site argues, whites are "the mass majority biological racial component of the developers of western civilization".

The Los Angeles Times reported that a spokesperson for the city told the press that issuing a permit for the event will not be an indication that Modesto endorses "Straight Pride," let alone white supremacist views.

"Permits to host any event are granted based on operational feasibility, not based on values and certainly not based on any endorsement of beliefs," said Community and Media Relations Officer Thomas Reeves. "So although the city does not share in the beliefs of some groups that choose to hold their events here, we may not be able to deny a permit based on an organization's values."

Reeves' comments were virtually identical to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who told the press that his city does not issue permits on the basis of ideology, but rather according to an event's feasibility.

Neither event has gained official approval, however. The Boston parade has been approved, but not yet secured a permit. The Modesto event is at an even earlier stage of the approval process. While the groups may yet argue over which is a "true Straight Pride parade," the distinction of being "first" might well boil down to bureaucratic realities.