The thinly veiled white supremacist rally aims to celebrate “Western civilization,” Christianity, and “whiteness,” according to one of the organizers.

Robert Galbraith / Reuters Don Grundmann, one of the organizers of the “straight pride” rally, in 2008 protesting same-sex marriage outside the California Supreme Court.

A failed US Senate candidate who believes that the LGBTQ community is waging a “cultural attack” on society is planning a “straight pride” rally in Northern California to promote “whiteness” and “Western civilization,” and is asking members of a far-right extremist group to show up in force. Don Grundmann, founder and director of the National Straight Pride Coalition, recently submitted a special event permit application to hold the Stanislaus County Straight Pride Parade/Event — a thinly veiled white supremacist rally — at a park in Modesto next month. Grundmann, a 67-year-old chiropractor based in San Jose, told BuzzFeed News that the event aims to celebrate masculinity, femininity, “the natural family of man, woman, and children,” babies, “Western civilization,” Christianity, and “whiteness.” “A celebration of life is just a celebration of natural functions of heterosexuality which are under attack actually, culturally in our society,” Grundmann said. “All those things we are defending and celebrating and that makes up the core of our beliefs.” The LGBTQ movement, he said, “is a massive multibillion-dollar social engineering movement to destroy the foundations of our culture,” resulting in a “24/7 psychological war against the appearance of conscience.” On its website, the National Straight Pride Coalition claims the “inherent superiority” of whiteness, Christianity, Western civilization, and heterosexuality. The event, scheduled for Aug. 24 at Graceada Park, has sparked outrage in the Central Valley city, with many calling on officials to deny the permit, but officials may not have the legal grounds to do so.

Thomas Reeves, a city spokesperson, said permits for special events are granted based on “operational feasibility” and “without regard to the content” of the event or views of the organizers or speakers. “Although the city may not share in the beliefs of some groups who choose to hold events here, the city cannot deny a permit based on an organization’s values or the views of the speakers,” Reeves told BuzzFeed News. He said city officials were in the final stages of reviewing the application and could decide whether to approve it by the end of this week. A similar event is being planned in Boston for Aug. 31, but if the Modesto event moves forward, it would likely be the first such public event in the country, according to Grundmann. He estimates 500 people will attend and said he has invited members of the Proud Boys, a group that proclaims itself to be “Western chauvinists” and has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Any Proud Boy who wants to come is welcome to come,” said Grundmann, who recently joined the group’s Modesto chapter. “We support everything that they’re doing.”

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP Gavin McInnes, founder of the Proud Boys, is surrounded by supporters after speaking at a rally in Berkeley.

The Bay Area chiropractor said he was inspired to put on the event after reading a column last year by then-vice mayor of Dixon, California, Ted Hickman proclaiming July “Straight Pride American Month.” Hickman faced widespread backlash for the piece and was voted out of office months later. “He was the originator and we’re just carrying forth that idea but in a much more expansive way,” said Grundmann, a longtime opponent of same-sex marriage. The goal, he said, is to start straight pride chapters in other parts of the country, ideally in every state. “Our motto is normal, natural, healthy, sane,” Grundmann said. “We’re representing ... everything that’s normal, natural, healthy, sane and bringing it to the nation.” Grundmann has run several unsuccessful campaigns for state legislature and Congress since the early 1990s, first as a Republican, then as a member of the American Independent Party. He now runs all of his campaigns under the Constitution Party of California, which has not qualified to appear as a political party on the state ballot.

On his most recent campaign website, Grundmann calls for a ban on same-sex marriage, sealing the Mexico border, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve System, and a ban on “all vaccinations of children.” He said he ultimately created the straight pride coalition, which is currently only active in California, this year in response to drag queen story hours, which he described as part of “a broad attack against society.”

Chris Riley/Times-Herald / Via timesheraldonline.com Grundmann protests outside a drag queen story hour in Vallejo, California.