UPDATED: Organizers of “Super Happy Fun America,” SHFA aka the producers of Straight Pride, Plan to Host a Fundraiser Celebrating the Riots of January 6 at the Capitol, According to MassEquality; MassEquality is Organizing a Counterprotest; More Information to Come
WORCESTER, Mass.—MassEquality is taking direct action Saturday, July 24th in Auburn, MA to oppose the spread of hate and the promotion of insurrection in the community. MassEquality is dismayed to hear that Super Happy Fun America will be hosting an event to celebrate the insurrection at the Capital, this Saturday in Auburn at the Century Sportsman’s Club, according to organization officials.
“Super Happy Fun America” is the organization responsible for the Straight Pride March. The events of January 6, 2021, were a dark stain on the nation’s history and “remind us all of the devastating consequences of extremism,” according to the organization.
Super Happy Fun America is anything but, and an organization whose tagline is, “it’s great to be straight” and whose ten-point plan includes language that harms the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and other marginalized communities. Their website includes lines such as: “We should seek only the best and the brightest immigrants from all nations according to the needs of the citizenry” “Remove all gender madness and anti-American revisionist history from studies” “Make normalcy normal again. Judeo-Christian values are under siege. It is time to right the ship.”
Because of it, MassEquality has put together a counterprotest to happen on Saturday, July 24 called Patriots for Equity: A Counterprotest. The counterprotest will gather at Southbridge + West Streets, in Auburn, Mass., 01501, from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Parking will be available at the school at 9 West Street.
Straight Pride in 2019
Super Happy Fun America, an organization whose tagline is, “it’s great to be straight” and whose ten-point plan includes language that harms the LGBTQ community, immigrants, and other marginalized communities. Their website includes lines such as: “We should seek only the best and the brightest immigrants from all nations according to the needs of the citizenry” “Remove all gender madness and anti-American revisionist history from studies” “Make normalcy normal again. Judeo-Christian values are under siege. It is time to right the ship”.
In a report by The Rainbow Times in August 2019 about the Straight Pride Parade, SHFA aka John Hugo, organizer of the Straight Pride Parade, wrote via their website then that they organized the event to “achieve inclusivity and spread awareness of issues impacting straights.” Hugo, who has made his anti-LGBQ and Trans statements in the past via social media, wanted his “straight flag” to be flown in City Hall too, according to a Fox News interview in June 2019.
John Hugo from an interview with Fox News in June of this year; Right: Walking in downtown Boston; Left Photo: Fox News; Right Photo: Janet Claire Burke/FB
Mostly white straight males at the time of the Straight Pride Parade, with obscuring attire—MAGA Hats, sunglasses, US FLag bandanas—to “protect” their identity, attended the parade while holding signs in support of Trump’s re-election campaign and held what appeared to be strategic prejudiced signs against oppressed groups. Some of the signs read: “Make Normal Seem Normal Again; Unite America 1st; Flag, Nation, God; Drain The Swamp; Secure America’s Borders; 2020 Trump; In God We Trust; It’s Great To Be Straight; and even one with a drawing of Trump flipping off the crowd.”
“This was clearly a parade rooted in white supremacy and was a blatant Trump 2020 re-election event,” said Noelle Nickerson*, a counterprotester. “It was obvious that the marchers and their message had nothing to do with straight pride and everything to do with ensuring that the majority stays in power.
MassEquality’s swift response
In Boston today, while MassEquality supports the right of all Americans to lawfully assemble, the organization also supports the right of counter-demonstrators to gather and peacefully express concern about the motives or message of those assembled and as “an organization that promotes lived equality for all members of our community, we cannot sit by idly and allow hate to go unchecked,” said Executive Director, Tanya Neslusan.
“To that end, we will be organizing a counter-protest the day of the event,” Neslusan added.
MassEquality is taking direct action to oppose the spread of hate and the promotion of insurrection in our community.
About MassEquality
MassEquality is the leading statewide grassroots advocacy organization working to ensure that everyone across Massachusetts can thrive from cradle to grave without discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We partner across identities, issues, and communities to build a broad, inclusive, and politically powerful movement that changes hearts and minds and achieves policy and electoral victories.
[From A News Release]
