TORCH NETWORK

On November 17, 2018, Patriot Prayer member Haley Adams is holding a misogynist and rape-apologist rally in downtown Portland, co-hosted by Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson, and Quincy Anatello, a member of the Christian extremist group the “Hell Shaking Street Preachers”. Uniting the event’s messaging under the hashtag #HimToo, Adams and Patriot Prayer are producing propaganda that pretends there is an epidemic of false rape allegations against men equivalent to or exceeding in volume and severity to the horrifying realities of sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence, and murder of women and non-men in our society. The violence and the reliable presence of neo-Nazis and other fascists at Patriot Prayer events has already been well-established by Rose City Antifa and other media outlets. In this article, Rose City Antifa will document a number of violent men with documented histories of domestic and sexual violence or violence against women, whom Adams specifically invited to her rally. Not only is the premise of a “him too” rally ridiculous on its face, the behavior of Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, Street Preachers and other associated far-right and white nationalist groups, both on the streets of Portland and in their private lives, shows that they are the exact the sort of threat described by the concept of “rape culture.”

Men are certainly also victimized by the sexual and domestic violence and rape culture. However, Haley and Patriot Prayer’s usage of the #HimToo hashtag has overwhelmingly ignored the possibility that men might be victims of violence in favor of simply “triggering the libs,” and publicly mocking and discrediting any claims of sexual violence. The event on the November 17 is sure to be one more iteration of right-wing public harassment from Adams, Patriot Prayer, and the Street Preachers, as they threaten, abuse, violate, dehumanize, and incite violence against marginalized people.

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