Violent white nationalist and neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” rally included chants of “Fuck you, faggots”

HuffPost: White supremacist and neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville, VA, chanted, “Fuck you, faggots.” On August 12 and the evening before, “thousands of white supremacists and armed militia groups,” as well as neo-Nazi and other hate groups, started a violent rally in Charlottesville, VA. According to HuffPost, white nationalist protesters were chanting “Fuck you faggots!” in addition to Nazi phrases like “‘Blood and soil!’ and ‘White lives matter!’” Three people died in connection with the “Unite the Right” rally, including one counterprotester, and dozens more were injured. From HuffPost’s report:

Thousands of white supremacists and armed militia groups faced off with counter-protesters during a violent and chaotic rally that raged for hours in this Virginia city on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of at least three people. [...] Groups in Charlottesville beat each other with flagpoles and bats, threw punches, chanted slogans and used chemical sprays on each other at a downtown park. Some reporters covering the event were doused in raw sewage. [...] The “Unite the Right” rally was promoted by white nationalist Richard Spencer and drew several different groups, including activists from the so-called “alt-right,” Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other white supremacists, some of whom dressed in militia uniforms and were openly carrying long guns. Counter-demonstrators and anti-fascist groups also attended. After demonstrations got heated Friday night, tensions were running high even before the rally officially began at noon, with members of the “alt-right” chanting the Nazi phrase “Blood and soil!” and “White lives matter!” as they marched toward Emancipation Park. With Confederate flags and Nazi memorabilia on full display, they also chanted “Fuck you faggots!” [HuffPost, 8/12/17]

White nationalist and neo-Nazi groups and extremists involved in protest have targeted LGBTQ people

Vanguard America

Richard Spencer

The Daily Stormer

National Socialist Movement

League of the South

Traditionalist Youth Network/Traditionalist Worker Party

Matthew Heimbach

Man who allegedly drove a car into counterprotesters and killed activist Heather Heyer had “stood shoulder-to-shoulder with” members of the hate group Vanguard America, which does not allow LGBTQ members. The man who “allegedly drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring at least 19 people,” was standing “shoulder-to-shoulder” with white nationalist group Vanguard America during the “Unite the Right” rally, The Washington Post reported. According to the article, the group’s website states that its members must be “at least 80% White/European heritage” and cannot be “homosexuals, transsexual, adulterers, or any other form of sexual degeneracy.” The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has labeled Vanguard America a white nationalist hate group. From The Washington Post’s August 15 report:

James Alex Fields Jr. held up a black shield emblazoned with Vanguard America’s logo, and he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the self-proclaimed fascist group as they formed a barrier around a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. At the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on Saturday, Fields also sported the unofficial uniform of the group: a white polo shirt and khaki pants. Soon after, Fields allegedly drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring at least 19 people. Vanguard America was quick to say Fields was not a member of the group and had nothing to do with the contingent at the rally. He had simply walked up and grabbed a shield — which he displayed upside down, as shown in photos — and stood a post with Vanguard. “The driver of the vehicle that hit counter protesters today was, in no way, a member of Vanguard America,” the group said in a statement on Twitter. “The shields seen do not denote membership, nor does the white shirt. The shields were freely handed out to anyone in attendance.” [...] [Vanguard America’s] website — removed from its host Monday and republished on another host as of Tuesday morning — lists requirements, saying members must be “at least 80% White/European heritage,” and that the group prohibits “homosexuals, transsexual, adulterers, or any other form of sexual degeneracy,” as well as criminals and those with addictions. [The Washington Post, 8/15/17; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2/15/17]

Vanguard America: LGBTQ people are “mentally unhealthy” “sexual deviants” who engage in “epidemic levels of sexual abuse of the young” and are “abusive parents.” In a lengthy anti-LGBTQ manifesto on its website, Vanguard America called LGBTQ people “mentally unhealthy” “sexual deviants” who “pose a risk to any wholesome community.” The 10-part post laid out a series of inflammatory and hateful claims about queer people. Vanguard America defended its hatred of the LGBTQ community by saying, “The so-called ‘hatred’ that we feel towards these degenerates stems from an understanding of the facts about how they regularly engage in harmful behaviors, especially epidemic levels of sexual abuse of the young.” It continued: “We have every reason to feel hatred towards the aggressors.” The manifesto made numerous defamatory claims, including that “1 in 20 homosexuals is a child molester” and that “gays are abusive parents and must be barred from adopting children in order to protect them from irreversible psychological trauma.” From the July 18 post (citations removed):

Let’s be clear about this issue: We strictly do not support or endorse transvestites, gays, or other sexual deviants are mentally unhealthy, and thus pose a risk to any wholesome community. We do not speaking from ideology or hatred, but from an understanding of data about the LGBT clique that is not reported on in the lying press. [...] The mass media has actively ignored the harm that this subpopulation has inflicted upon society, instead defending them by labeling anyone who so much as criticizes homosexuality as “homophobic”, and accusing dissenters with “hate speech”. The so-called “hatred” that we feel towards these degenerates stems from an understanding of the facts about how they regularly engage in harmful behaviors, especially epidemic levels of sexual abuse of the young. The realization of such widespread harm should create disgust in any sane person who realizes the extent of the problem, and in response to the aggressions inflicted upon our communities, we have every reason to feel hatred towards the aggressors[.] [...] 1 in 20 homosexuals is a child molester, and that’s only going by the police statistics of those who have been caught in the act. It is impossible to collect data on those victims who are too afraid or ashamed to report having been a victim of a sexual abuse incident. In a pro-homosexual society, there is a strong stigma against reporting the abuse if you’re straight, White, and male. In the current social climate, the suffering of White men is never recognized as legitimate due to the socially-backwards influence of the regressive Left. [...] In simple terms, gays are abusive parents and must be barred from adopting children in order to protect them from irreversible psychological trauma, which may result in a continuation of the vicious cycle of sexual abuse. 23% of children who had lesbian mothers were sexually touched by a parent or other adult, as opposed to 2% of children who had married parents. This means that lesbian parents are a risk factor that make children eleven times more likely to be sexually abused. The same study found that children of gay parents were twice as likely to think about suicide and nearly four times as likely to have been forced to have sex unwillingly. [Vanguard America, 7/18/17]

Richard Spencer, “one of the country’s most successful young white nationalist leaders,” was slated to speak at the “Unite the Right” rally. The SPLC has labeled Richard Spencer, who heads the hate group National Policy Institute (NPI), “one of the country’s most successful young white nationalist leaders” and noted that he calls for “peaceful ethnic cleansing” and an “Aryan homeland.” Spencer has stated that his dream is “an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans.” According to The New York Times, Spencer “had come to Charlottesville to speak” at the rally and called the demonstration “a huge moral victory in terms of the show of force.” The Times also noted that Spencer had “rhetorically elbowed his way into the national conversation with his use of Nazi language and his unalloyed contention that America belongs to white people.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 8/17/17; The New York Times, 8/13/17]

Spencer: LGBTQ people can be “cured” through “rational medical treatment,” and homosexuality “is a suboptimal deviation from the norm, much like a birth defect.” On hate site Radix Journal, which is run by Spencer and his group NPI, Spencer penned a post in March 2012 calling homosexuality “a suboptimal deviation from the norm, much like a birth defect.” Spencer declared that his proposed “ethno-State would view homosexuality as an unfortunate malady, for society as well as the homosexuals themselves” and suggested what he called “rational, preventative steps” to prevent fetuses from ultimately becoming queer people. Spencer then called it “striking” that people would “deem treatment to prevent homosexuality something akin to murder” and lamented that conservatives would not support a world where LGBTQ people are “cured … through rational medical treatment.” From the March 5, 2012, post (emphasis original):

There is another option all together—that homosexuality is physical but not genetic. Gays are “born that way” in the sense that homosexuality is a suboptimal deviation from the norm, much like a birth defect, caused by a random abnormality in the womb. As I discuss further below, this prospect won’t be relished by the gay movement, which wants gays to be “born that way”—but not that way. [...] A potential Ethno-State would view homosexuality as an unfortunate malady, for society as well as the homosexuals themselves. Simply “letting be” would be an option. But rational, preventative steps might also be taken to ensure that fetuses undergo normal, properly gendered brain formation, all of which is entirely possible with existing technology in prenatal testing. What’s most striking about such a sensible policy is that it would be entirely unacceptable to both Left and Right as they are currently articulated, perhaps best represented by Lady Gaga and Rick Santorum. Gaga wants gays to be “born that way” and for their identity to be embraced unquestioningly; she would deem treatment to prevent homosexuality something akin to murder. The Right—or at least the portion of the Right that criticizes the gay movement—wants homosexuality to be a bad choice, deriving from the inherent sinfulness of man. Gays must be cured not through rational medical treatment but through indoctrination in “conservative values.” [Radix Journal, 3/5/12; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017]

Neo-Nazi hate website The Daily Stormer promoted the “Unite the Right” rally, mocked the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer, and sent representatives to the rally. According to The Washington Post, neo-Nazi and white supremacist website The Daily Stormer and its founder Andrew Anglin mocked the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer after the “Unite the Right” rally, calling her a “drain on society.” The Post noted that Anglin “helped cultivate interest in the event and inspire the large crowds of white supremacists and white nationalists that appeared” through posts on the website. In addition, Vice interviewed and followed neo-Nazi Robert “Azzmador” Ray, who is an author at The Daily Stormer, at the rally. During the interview, Ray bragged that white nationalists were “stepping off the internet in a big way” and “coming out” after “organizing on the internet.” The SPLC has labeled The Daily Stormer a neo-Nazi hate site and called it “the top hate site in America.” [The Washington Post, 8/15/17; Vice, 8/14/17; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2/9/17, 2/15/17]

Daily Stormer: LGBTQ leaders should “be arrested and tried for multiple forms of treason, as they have broken the minds of so many innocent victims.” A June 18, 2014, post on The Daily Stormer titled “Homosexuality: A Perversion Without End” contained a panoply of derogatory anti-LGBTQ claims. In one of its more incendiary claims, the post said that in the future, LGBTQ leaders “would have to be arrested and tried for multiple forms of treason, as they have broken the minds of so many innocent victims.” The article also asserted that “the disgusting and unnatural ‘Homsexual Movement’” is “ghastly and repulsive” and that LGBTQ people are “obviously deranged and misguided deviants.” The post further stated that “the ‘homosexual rights’ drive has been largely the work of the Jew,” that queer people have “poor and twisted souls,” and that “child abuse incidents at the hands of homosexuals range exponentially higher than the percentages within normal, ‘straight’ society.” It lamented that anti-LGBTQ people are being “forced to ‘accept’ and ‘tolerate’” LGBTQ people, adding that they “perform public acts of perversion.” At the end, the article recommended harmful “corrective therapy” and a ban on pride parades, which it said “act as poorly disguised fetish orgies.” From the post:

It is the job among us here at the Daily Stormer to provide the White masses with an image of the heights of depravity our society has reached in this modern era. Therefore, our work would be left unfinished if the disgusting and unnatural “Homosexual Movement” was not covered in all its ghastly and repulsive entirety. In the last couple of decades, we have seen the rise of these obviously deranged and misguided deviants in all aspects of Western life and culture, ranging from their widespread promotion by the Jewish-run media, to the heavy indoctrination of our children in this toxic and indecent “lifestyle.” Just as with most other examples of degeneracy and filth proliferating within our Nations, the “homosexual rights” drive has been largely the work of the Jew, acting according to his biological drive to subvert and corrupt its host society. One is now conditioned almost from birth to view these poor and twisted souls as just like the ordinary man or woman, excepting their specific gender preference. This is inherently wrong in almost all aspects of the word. No mention is made of the massive rates of hard drug use, primarily “speed” and other amphetamines, within the gay community, nor is anything made of the fact that sexual crimes and child abuse incidents at the hands of homosexuals range exponentially higher than the percentages within normal, “straight” society. Instead, we are forced to “accept” and “tolerate” these wonderful specimens of diversity as they perform public acts of perversion that would have made the strongest of our forbears turn away in disgust. [...] In future our liberated Homelands will more than likely have to take serious action against the “Homosexual Movement” in order to restore some semblance of normality and decency among the masses. There can be no argument that the leaders of such an insidious cancer, mainly of the Jewish variety, would have to be arrested and tried for multiple forms of treason, as they have broken the minds of so many innocent victims. With the average individual, it can be hoped that many who currently suffer from such mental illness maintain enough grip of their faculties to be open to corrective therapy, as has worked with some success in past instances. With the banning of so-called “pride parades,” which often act as poorly disguised fetish orgies, and other forms of degenerate media, we can possibly hope to turn the nightmare of the present into an example of what is in store for those who allow the manipulation and subversion of their societies by the Jew. [The Daily Stormer, 6/18/14]

Daily Stormer: “Admitting to being a faggot is saying ‘I enjoy sodomizing young men, and wish to do more of it.” In an April 8 post, Anglin repeatedly used the word “faggot” and asserted that “admitting to being a faggot is saying ‘I enjoy sodomizing young men, and wish to do more of it.” [The Daily Stormer, 4/8/17]

Daily Stormer: People “who know a thing or two about what faggots truly are” argue that they “prey on young boys (as if the majority of people even need a reason to be repulsed by fags … ).” In a post attacking 23-year-old gay Jewish actor Noah Galvin, whom The Daily Stormer called a “Hollywood Jew-Fag,” writer Benjamin Garland repeatedly used variations of the word “faggot” and said that LGBTQ people “prey on young boys.” The post concluded that “fags are disgusting” and, along with Jewish people, “are a toxic lot.” From the June 10, 2016, post:

Fags and pro-fags have been selling the idea of faggotry to the public for decades by claiming they are just “normal,” that they are just like heterosexuals except they are attracted to the same sex. It’s all about “love,” see. Who are you to say men can’t love other men, or women other women, without carrying on a healthy, functioning relationship? Those who are against faggotry, and who know a thing or two about what faggots truly are, have been arguing that the majority of fags are not monogamous at all but instead constantly engage in casual sex with multiple partners – resulting in the spread of deadly diseases – and prey on young boys (as if the majority of people even need a reason to be repulsed by fags, considering that is the natural, default position). [...] The bottom line is: fags are disgusting. Everything negative that anybody has said about them is true, probably tenfold. Jews and fags are a toxic lot, and Hollywood is chock full of them. It would be bad enough just reading about how degenerate that place is – the fact that it wields so much power and influence over our culture is just downright scary. [The Daily Stormer, 6/10/16]

National Socialist Movement is a neo-Nazi hate group that was spotted in Charlottesville during the rally. The flag of the neo-Nazi hate group National Socialist Movement (NSM) was spotted at the violent Charlottesville rally, according to SPLC. NSM is “the largest neo-Nazi organization in the country” and is known “for its violent anti-Jewish rhetoric, its racist views,” and its flexible membership policy that allows members to be a part of multiple groups. Its members were known for protesting “in full Nazi uniforms” until 2007, and the group has been around for more than 20 years. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 8/12/17, accessed 8/18/17]

NSM FAQ: Homosexuality “is a huge unnatural negative that is not worthy of our Aryan Race and progress!” NSM featured an entire section on its “views on gays” in a document titled “Frequently Asked Questions About National Socialism (Nazism) and the Nationalist Socialist Movement.” NSM stated its official position: “National Socialism is based on reason and Nature, therefore we oppose homosexuality.” The section continued, “Looking at the anatomy of a man and a woman, it is obvious what Nature’s intent is. You don’t have to be a Nazi rocket scientist to figure it out! Homosexuals go strongly and directly against this vital plan and intent of Nature.” NSM also stated that LGBTQ people “contribute nothing to further the survival of our race,” lamented that they are seen by children “out in the public,” and called homosexuality “a huge unnatural negative that is not worthy of our Aryan Race and progress.” From the post:

First, we don’t use euphemisms and distort the English language to be politically correct. We use the word homosexual, not gay. National Socialism is based on reason and Nature, therefore we oppose homosexuality. Looking at the anatomy of a man and a woman, it is obvious what Nature’s intent is. You don’t have to be a Nazi rocket scientist to figure this out! Homosexuals go strongly and directly against this vital plan and intent of Nature. Homosexuals contribute nothing to the further survival of our race. Our children are being inundated with the false ideas that homosexuality is normal and acceptable. They see it out in the public, in their schools, and on the TV programs they watch. This can only serve to confuse innocent and impressionable minds. The verdict is still out whether homosexuality is genetic or a choice. If it is genetic, that would make homosexuals sexually handicapped. If it is a choice, it demonstrates the sick and twisted and unnatural minds of homosexuals. Either way, it is a huge unnatural negative that is not worthy of our Aryan Race and progress! [National Socialist Movement, accessed 8/15/17]

Members of the neo-Confederate hate group League of the South were filmed “viciously beating a black man” at the Charlottesville rally. According to the SPLC, the League of the South (LOS) is a neo-Confederate hate group that “advocates for a second Southern secession and a society dominated by ‘European Americans’” and run by a white elite. SPLC also reported that at the rally, members of Florida’s LOS “were filmed viciously beating a black man, who attempted to run away, fell, and was savaged once again.” The report also noted that one person who was marching with LOS at the rally was arrested following the event. [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 8/18/17, 8/17/17]

LOS protested an Alabama pride event and shouted, “God hates fags.” SPLC reported that about a dozen LOS members protested an Alabama PRIDE rally in 2015, shouting, “God hates fags,” among other chants. From the July 15, 2016, report:

The Sunday PRIDE Rally began largely without incident; a few protesters were present with a large cross and signs quoting scripture, but the interactions between those participants and protesters were largely respectful. The peace was broken when the protesters were joined by a group of about a dozen younger League of the South members carrying signs emblazoned with the League of the South’s website. Those present were not the professional group seen at the League’s demonstration in Wetumpka the day before. The standard LOS uniform of black polo shirts and khaki pants had been abandoned for jeans, T-shirts, and shorts. They almost immediately began shouting “God hates fags” before they changed tack for less volatile chants like “Obey God's law” and “Support Christian marriage." The LOS members were greatly outnumbered by those supporting the LGBT community, who largely disregarded the League’s presence. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 7/15/16]

LOS appeared at an Alabama rally to protest marriage equality. In February 2015, LOS joined a rally “against marriage equality” in Alabama, and its members carried flags that resembled “a battle flag for [a] Confederate general,” SPLC reported. According to the report, LOS’ participation in the rally was not “the first time the League has expanded its traditional, secessionist mission to protest same-sex marriage,” as it had joined another protest the year before. From the February 23, 2015, report:

Sanctity of Marriage-Alabama held another rally against marriage equality this past Saturday on the steps of the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery. [...] The crowd, which appeared to be around 200 people (some estimates are higher),included members or supporters of the League of the South, some of whom carried flags that featured a red cross with white stars on a blue background, which looks a lot like the 3rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry Regiment flag, used also as a battle flag for Confederate general John Breckinridge’s division, though the cross also carries religious symbolism. This isn’t the first time the League has expanded its traditional, secessionist mission to protest same-sex marriage. Last year, members gathered outside the SPLC offices and also in Richmond, Virginia. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 2/23/15]

LOS called same-sex marriage “evil” and said that people need to “understand the wickedness” of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality. After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality nationwide, LOS posted a statement on its website inviting “all Southerners and our allies elsewhere who understand the wickedness of this ruling to join us in seeking a free and independent South where such evil will be opposed and not embraced.” [League of the South, 6/26/15]

Traditionalist Youth Network is a white nationalist hate group that was present in Charlottesville and has “allied with neo-Nazi” groups and advocated “for racially pure nations and communities.” According to SPLC, the Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN) and its political wing, the Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP), are recently formed white nationalist hate groups that advocate “for racially pure nations and communities and [blame] Jews for many of the world’s problems.” SPLC noted that the group “claims to oppose racism” but “is intimately allied with neo-Nazi and other hardline racist organizations that espouse unvarnished white supremacist views.” TWP was present at the Charlottesville rally. [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 8/18/17, 8/15/17]

TYN member: Homosexuality is “dangerous, dysfunctional, and degenerate.” SPLC’s “extremist file” on TWP noted that a TYN spokesperson called homosexuality “universally taboo because it’s dangerous, dysfunctional, and degenerate.” The member, Matthew Parrott, continued that homosexuality is “not a healthy part of a balanced civilization” and compared it to “shingles, always lingering in the background but only flaring up into a real problem when a civilization’s somehow weakened or decrepit.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 8/15/17]

TYN spokesperson said that “traditional marriage is within our sphere of activism” and that LGBTQ equality is part of a “campaign to destroy every last vestige of Western civilization.” On March 25, 2014, TYN filed an amicus brief with a federal court “defending the ‘sanctity of marriage’ against ‘Culture distorters,’” SPLC reported. TYN said that though its primary focus was race, “we’re fighting for tradition,” adding that “traditional marriage is within our sphere of activism.” SPLC noted that TYN’s language took a “much harsher tone against same-sex marriage than a simple defense of traditional values” including lamenting that gay sex, abortions, and pornography were not criminalized. The group also said the fight for LGBTQ equality was “merely one battle in [the Left’s] generational campaign against the ties that bind our peoples” and claimed it was part of a “social engineering campaign to destroy every last vestige of Western civilization.” From the March 26 report:

In an amicus brief filed yesterday in federal court in Michigan, the Traditionalist Youth Network (TYN) –– a student organization concerned with promoting white identity –– has taken up the mantle of defending the “sanctity of marriage” against “Culture distorters” who seek to reject “originalism.” [...] Matt Parrott, a spokesman for TYN, told Hatewatch on Wednesday that standing against same-sex marriage was well within parameters of the group, even if the majority of TYN’s focus deals with race. “We’re fighting for tradition,” Parrott said. “Traditional marriage is within our sphere of activism.” The language in the brief, however, takes a much harsher tone against same-sex marriage than a simple defense of traditional values, claiming that the judge’s ruling is an “affront to thousands of years of the Western legal tradition and hundreds of years of the American legal tradition.” “While the appellants will likely not say it as bluntly as this,” the brief said, “the Culture distorters and those who espouse their ideals flagrantly reject originalism and often treat the United States Constitution like an accordion: they frequently stretch it out to invent rights that do not exist –– such as the ‘right’ to have an abortion or the ‘right’ to engage in sodomy or the ‘right’ to view pornographic materials.” After several telephone conversations between Hatewatch and TYN leaders on Wednesday, Parrott published a short piece titled “TradYouth Stands for Traditional Marriage” on the group’s website to explain the shift. “The recent campaign in favor of homosexual ‘marriage’ is merely one battle in [the Left’s] generational campaign against the ties that bind our peoples,” Parrott wrote, tying a defense of a traditional marriage to the white nationalist cause. “Our humble organization is joining numerous grassroots conservative and Christian organizations in opposing the Leftists social engineering campaign to destroy every last vestige of Western civilization.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, 3/26/14]

SPLC: White nationalist Matthew Heimbach is “considered by many to be the face of a new generation of white nationalists” and has been a member of several white nationalist groups. SPLC’s “extremist file” on Matthew Heimbach says that he is “considered by many to be the face of a new generation of white nationalists” and has founded, been a member of, or had leadership roles in numerous white supremacist organizations, including LOS and TYN/TWP. Heimbach began “wading into neo-Nazi territory” in 2013, speaking at neo-Nazi group Stormfront’s annual meeting and participating in a gathering hosted by a violent skinhead group, a Ku Klux Klan group, and NSM. According to SPLC, “the event included a cross and swastika lighting” and Heimbach was photographed “standing under a large swastika performing the TYN favorite Avalonian salute, nearly indistinguishable from a sieg-heil, with a group of Klansmen and neo-Nazis.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, accessed 8/18/17]

USA Today: Heimbach “helped promote Charlottesville rally.” According to a USA Today report, Heimbach “worked for weeks to help promote the Unite the Right rally.” The report added that Heimbach “sees America’s diversity as a threat, believes that the country should be carved into ‘ethnostates’ with each race receiving its own autonomous region,” and sees a “white homeland” as the cornerstone of his goals. From the August 16 report:

An Indiana man who worked for weeks to help promote the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., has risen quickly to prominence in white supremacist circles. Matthew Heimbach, 26, of Paoli, Ind., was born in Maryland but married into an Indiana family. His home now is a town of about 3.500 people in the middle of southern Indiana about 90 miles south of here where the Census Bureau in 2010 recorded that almost 99% of residents identified as white and not Latino. [...] Is he affiliated with some group? He's chairman of the Traditionalist Worker Party, which he founded, as the White Student Union before he graduated in spring 2013 from Towson University in the Baltimore suburbs. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies his organization as a hate group. What does he believe? He believes “white genocide” is [in] danger of occurring in the United States. He sees America's diversity as a threat and believes that the country should be carved into “ethnostates” with each race receiving its own autonomous region. He and his group are also anti-Semitic and believe a “Jewish power structure” controls the world. They deny the Holocaust, admire Adolf Hitler and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and look up to strongmen such as Russia's Vladimir Putin and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. What are his goals? The cornerstone: A white homeland, an idea the white nationalist repeatedly has espoused in rallies and interviews [USA Today, 8/16/17]

SPLC: Heimbach’s reference to homosexuality as a “deviant lifestyle” contributed to him being banned from the UK. According to SPLC, Heimbach received a letter issued on behalf of now-Prime Minister Theresa May stating that he was banned from the United Kingdom for his “White Supremacist, anti-Semitic, racist, and homophobic rhetoric and imagery.” The letter highlighted Heimbach’s “reference to homosexuality as a ‘deviant lifestyle.’” From SPLC’s November 4, 2015, report: