Attacked by White Supremacists: Is Montana Man Face of Pride 2023?
Joseph Wood was assaulted at Montana Pride Fest as Proud Boys plan sustained violence campaign across the country
This story contains homophobic and transphobic slurs that some readers may find traumatizing.
We should talk about Pride this year, how to react to protesters, and how to respond to violence.
Last Saturday, Joseph Wood and his girlfriend went to a Pride fest in Bozeman, Montana. The day was perfect — bright, warm, and breezy. But when the couple arrived to enjoy the spring day with friends and neighbors, they were greeted by gangs of men in tactical gear wearing sunglasses, masks, and hats to hide their identity. The men carried signs claiming transgender people kill children. They chanted slurs like “faggot,” “tranny,” and “pedophile,” as they handed out flyers filled with anti-queer vitriol and white supremacist dogma.
Joseph got into a verbal altercation with one of the masked men and found himself jacked up, the edge of a police-style riot shield pushed into the bridge of his nose. The shield immobilized him with pain as another masked man reached around to squirt pepper spray directly into his eye.
“The most painful part,” Joseph told reporters, “was that I could feel it, like in going into the eye, not just like spicy on top.”
His girlfriend called 911, and EMTs soon arrived to treat him. He was not seriously injured, but the couple’s planned day of peace, love, and companionship had shattered.
Joseph's masked assailant was not identified or arrested. Click here to watch him tell his story while the EMTs were still on scene.
Bozeman Pride co-organizer Alotta Shadow told reporters that the Bozeman queer community will not bow to pressure to disappear:
I think it’s ridiculous to have people’s safety put at risk simply for being themselves. It’s unfortunate, it’s a reality. But we’re queer, we’re here, we’re not going away, and we will not be silenced. And we’ll be here for the rest of eternity.
