Resist Marxism members have hosted numerous events in the past couple of years, some of which have resulted in unprovoked violence against protesters and journalists. The event that inaugurated the founding of the group was one of its most controversial. On Boston Common a week after Unite the Right, a couple dozen people including Kyle Chapman gathered for a ‘free speech’ rally. Boston Police estimated the counter-protest had 45,000 people.

Many counter-protestors at Resist Marxism events I’ve spoken to say they believe Sahady, Resist Marxism, and the people and groups they associate with are hateful, bigoted, and fascist.

But whether they are actual fascists or not does not matter. Whether their goals are genuinely peacefully is also immaterial. What matters is what their events bring and what the growth of their worldviews would mean for the communities impacted.

I have covered at least half a dozen events associated with Resist Marxism in the past two years. These are my experiences and impressions that bear upon the so called “Straight Pride” parade.

Anti Civil Rights Protections

The purpose of the group putting on the parade, as stated in their Website, is,

”[to advocate] on behalf of the straight community to build respect, inclusivity, equality, diversity, unity, solidarity, dignity, social mobility, empowerment, sustainability, justice, awareness, intersectionality, human rights, education, access, participation, dialogue, visibility, tolerance, and alliances with people from all walks of life.”

Sahady told me he doesn’t believe in civil rights protections for categories like race, sex, religion, etc. He told me that when we spoke at the Green Dragon Tavern in Boston on June 2, 2018 . His group was having an after party following a pro second amendment rally they had hosted that day in front of the Massachusetts State House.

I asked him if he thinks a trans woman should have a legal right to use the women’s room at a restaurant. He said, “Well, I believe that’s a private property matter,” implying that he did not think it should be law. I then pressed the point by asking if a restaurant owner could then force all black people to sit in a specific area. He said, “Well, maybe not that. They’ve (black people) had it pretty bad for a while.”

He told me he doesn’t believe in transgenderism. He said that “there’s only two genders.” Others in his group are much more pointed and say that bieng transgender is a “mental illness.” Such views are ignorant, hateful, and dehumanizing. Such views do not build respect or support any other of the ideas listed in their mission statement.

Patrick Souter, a member of Resist Marxism and the group organizing the parade, once exploded in anger at me. During the Boston Women’s March in January of this year, I had heard him, in a conversation next to me, make the mental illness claim. I interjected with a smile, “Oh, how nice to be insulted right to my face.” He erupted, belting out, “No one’s making you stand there. If you don’t like it you can get the fuck out.”

Civil rights protections are a fundamental part of the America Social contract. The United States did not start as an egalitarian endeavor, but it sure used the words of one. As it has grown in population and diversity, so has the need for those words to ring true for each and every person sharing in this community. That means making clear what we mean by, “All men are created equal.” That means federally protected civil rights. Sahady’s worldview on civil rights would not only stop the progress of decades of civil rights and social gain, but enable and hasten their destruction.

Claiming Victimhood

John Hugo, the group’s President, is quoted on the group’s Website claiming that, “Straight people are an oppressed majority.” Oppression of heterosexuals isn’t really a thing according to a report by ProPublica who,

“reviewed dozens of reports [marked as anti heterosexual by police], and found few, if any, actual hate crimes targeting people for being heterosexual.”

Sahady spoke with me again on June 15, 2019 at the Flag Day Second Amendment Rally in Auburn, MA – an annual rally hosted for the last six years by a group of the same name. The rally hosted controversial right wing speakers such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio who was found guilty of contempt of federal court for continuing to perpetrate crimes against immigrants. He opened outdoor prison facilities in the Arizona heat and proudly named them “Concentration camps.”

The main organizers are husband and wife and openly express transphobic views. The husband was polite to me. The wife made me feel unsafe. At one point late in the day, I’d had enough and decide to leave after she asked various questions in a contemptuous voice. “Do you have a firearms ID card?” and “What’s your real name?” The first question came across as paranoia, as she was questioning why I was at the event. But, the last question was just raging transphobia.

Sahady was at the Flag Day rally promoting the straight pride event. While I was talking with Sahady, one of his friends interjected transphobic jabs at me with the tone of a bitter and sarcastic 15 year old. Sahady held a clipboard with a name or two scribbled on it.

I asked him about heterosexual oppression. I asked why doesn’t he just participate in the Boston Pride March. He said he tried to enter a float on behalf of Resist Marxism, but they were denied. He presented this as an example of political oppression.

Sahady confirmed his stance against federal civil rights protections, and added that such protections are unnecessary anyway. He said that equality has been achieved; that we don’t need protections for people based on sexual orientation anymore.

“Just look at all the Pride flags on store fronts in downtown Boston,” he said.

The LGBT community has certainly not achieved equality. Bathroom bills singed into law vilify transgender people. The LGBT community suffers mass murder like at the Pulse Night Club. Trans women of color are disproportionately targeted for murder. The LGBT community at large suffers from housing, loan and employment discrimination. People of color are incarcerated at much higher rates than white people. Equality for marginalized people is a long, long way away, and it’s offensive, tone-deaf, or worse to say otherwise.

Sahady claims, “The identity politics of the left is out of control.” No. It is not. If people weren’t discriminated against, then there wouldn’t be any need for identity politics.

Sahady says (LGBT) Pride Marches are just parades. “If they were political protests, then I would understand [their existence.]” They are marches. They are protests. Research “Stonewall uprising.” To not know that is to be historically ignorant, or tone-deaf, or worse. Sahady sees victimhood where none exists. The notion is an insult.

It’s ironic for Sahady to claim that pride marches are no longer needed; that LGBT people have achieved equality at an event where a transgender woman was being actively oppressed.

Associations with Violence and Violent Groups

Resist Marxism says on their website that they exist

“in response to attempts by local governments and militant Marxist, anarchist, and communist styled organizations to suppress the 1st amendment rights of patriotic Americans.”

Boston Free Speech was formed before Resist Marxism but some of its members would go on to join the latter group. Boston Free Speech, from its earliest stages, included speakers like repeat violent felon Kyle Chapman that have engaged in serious violence. Resist Marxism invited speakers to their rallies who are associated with white nationalism such as Augustus Sol Invictus. They also enlisted private security forces staffed by such groups as Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, Fraternal Order of the Alt Knights, and American Guard. Some of the members of Resist Marxism have since gone on to join groups like the white nationalist group Patriot Front, which in a previous incarnation attended the Unite the Right Rally as Vanguard America.

The Drunk March

I agreed to attend the after party for the June 2nd, 2018 rally because I wanted to confront Sahady about a member of his group who assaulted me.

The incident occurred following the after party for another Resist Marxism rally on November 18, 2017.

The group held the after party for the November 18, 2017 rally at the Bell In Hand Tavern in downtown Boston. At the end of the after party, the group decide to march through Downtown Boston. They wanted to stalk, confront, and possibly brawl with “antifa.” They visited three locations: some establishment near Park Street T Station (subway), Emerson College, and the meeting place of the International Socialist Organization.

I live streamed the entire event on Periscope. Because of what transpired in the first few moments of the march, I have muted the stream for my safety. I’ve muted all of my streams, actually. The incident changed how I do journalism permanently. Topic for another day.

Present at the march were, in addition to others, Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson and Tiny Toese, Proud Boys Kyle Chapman, Kenny Lizardo, Vinnie Molino, and Jovi Val, Boston Free Speech’s John Medlar and Chris Bartley and Chris Hood who would later join Patriot Front, which hadn’t formed yet.