2023 Recap: Top Troubling & Positive Trends
2023 was a deeply challenging year that saw anti-democracy groups continue to amass power at the local level, bigoted rhetoric and conspiracy theories become more mainstreamed, and violence in the Middle East spur a spike in bias incidents in the U.S. With the 2024 election only months away, our democracy is facing some of its greatest challanges in recent memory. But it’s certainly all not doom and gloom. As I reflect on 2023, my spirits are buoyed by the role community groups, elected officials, and civic and legal institutions played in defending our democracy and closing the space for anti-democracy and white nationalist groups to operate. This year, Western States Center is highlighting not only concerning trends in our year-end Democracy Alert, but also recognizing those who are courageously pushing back for a more inclusive democracy. Stephen Piggott, Momentum Program Director
Top 5 Troubling Trends
Continued targeting of the LGBTQ+ community
While white nationalist and anti-democracy groups tend to jump from issue to issue on a regular basis, one constant target in recent years has been the LGBTQ+ community. This year saw the biggest slate of anti-trans bills ever introduced in state legislatures, while Pride and Drag Story Hour events and their organizers faced a barrage of threats from groups like Proud Boys as well as white nationalists. In addition to threats, the number of bias incidents and hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community also rose in 2023. In schools, bigoted and anti-student inclusion groups like Moms for Liberty are attempting to make schools as hostile as possible for LGBTQ+ students by gutting curricula and banning books. Anti-democracy groups are continuing to target LGBTQ+ people because they believe this is a winning strategy; and every Pride event or Drag Story Hour that is cancelled due to threats is hailed as a victory by bad actors and encourages more bigoted behavior. Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric also continues to become more mainstream as elected officials repeat homophobic and transphobic slurs to a much bigger audience with little consequence.
The rise of Active Clubs
2023 saw a sharp rise in the number of groups and activity associated with the white nationalist “active club” movement. Active Clubs are a loose collective of white nationalist and sometimes neo-Nazi groups that are organized around mixed martial arts and take inspiration from racist elements of Europe’s soccer hooligans. Members see themselves as training to prepare for their bigoted fantasies of a so-called race war and are largely supportive of Robert Rundo, a white nationalist who started the Rise Above Movement, a precursor to the Active Clubs. Active Club social media channels are often rife with neo-Nazi imagery and rhetoric. In 2023, Active Clubs began to form coalitions and work more closely with other white nationalist groups, a troubling trend of coordination from an often-disorganized movement. We saw this in the Pacific Northwest with the formation of the Northwest Nationalist Network (3N). 3N and other Active Clubs throughout the country focused heavily on targeting the LGBTQ+ community, with 3N showing up to smaller, more rural Pride festivals on almost-consecutive weekends in multiple states across the region in May and June. Other Active Club coalitions began to pop up around the country and evidence also indicates that members are crossing state lines to engage in counterdemonstrations.
Attacks on institutions
In 2023, anti-democracy groups and individuals continued their relentless attacks on America’s key civic institutions. The off-year elections brought more attacks on local elections workers, with envelopes containing fentanyl and other white powders sent to elections offices in multiple states. Attempts by anti-democracy groups such as Moms for Liberty to ban books in schools and public libraries have driven a spike in targeting of librarians and teachers, resulting a rash of resignations across the country. At the local level, anti-democracy actors have used artificial intelligence to infiltrate county level Zoom calls and spread racism. The attacks on public meetings come at a time when elected officials have indicated that there is a clear lack of resources available for them to help combat this targeting that is resulting in a noticeable chilling effect. Attacks on Black leaders in politics, especially women, continues to be a major problem. This also comes at time when African Americans are the victims of more hate crimes than any other marginalized group according to a report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino.
Attempting to build power at the local level
White nationalist and anti-democracy groups and figures spent much of 2023 directly attacking institutions, but this is only part of their inside-outside strategy. These groups are also attempting to build power by running for office and taking over local Republican institutions. In November, voters largely rebuked right-wing school board candidates that advocated for anti-inclusion initiatives, railed against LGBTQ+ themed books, and declared war against education about race and racism, but anti-democracy candidates will have another chance next year. In Idaho, the state GOP has adopted positions so extreme that regional leaders resigned and accused state leaders of establishing an “oligarchy” and abandoning grassroots voters. In Texas, white nationalist Nick Fuentes and other antisemitic figures have built such strong alliances within the state’s GOP that a vote to disavow party members from associating with white nationalists failed. Groups such as Proud Boys and Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights Network have successfully taken over county GOP groups in Oregon, a major concern ahead of the 2024 election.
Rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia
Since the events of Oct. 7, both antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate incidents have spiked in the real world and online. In some cases, experts have raised the alarm, reporting a 422 percent and 297 percent rise in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate on the X (formerly Twitter) platform. Premium X users have attempted to use the Israel-Hamas conflict to peddle misinformation and game the social media algorithms to monetize hateful content. In a report by the watchdog organization, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), anti-Muslim and antisemitic hate skyrocketed on 4chan, Gab, Odysee and Bitchute, collectively rising by about 461% in the two days following the attack. In the real world, white nationalists have tried to insert antisemitic and anti-immigrant messages into protests, often showing up with signs while advocating for the creation of an ethno-state. While those offline attempts have largely failed, white nationalists who have inserted rhetoric about the conflict into their social media posts have seen their following rise dramatically. The conflict has also resulted in further mainstreaming of antisemitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric pushed by elected officials and anti-democracy media figures with significant audiences.
Top 5 Positive Trends
LGBTQ+ communities continue to advocate for rights and celebrate Pride in the face of adversity
Leading into 2023, LGBTQ+ communities and advocates warned that discriminatory legislation would continue to be passed in the halls of power, while on the ground, targeting of LGBTQ+ venues, businesses, and events was sure to continue as well. But, two years after the Heritage Foundation, the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Family Policy Alliance inaugurated a new era of anti-LGBTQ+ hate with their “Promise to America’s Children,” LGBTQ+ communities mobilized to protect themselves and their rights, refusing to back down. In the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, small-town and neighborhood Pride organizers countered targeting by Active Clubs with grace and even humor. The Dignity Guild of Lewis County in Washington made the phrase “no cupcakes for Nazis” into a rallying cry. In Wyoming, Wind River Pride stood up for themselves in the wake of being targeted by Patriot Front, holding local politicians accountable. In Oregon City, Oregon, where the community’s first-ever Pride event was disrupted by a brawl between Proud Boys and Active Club members, Pride organizers mobilized for repeat events, making it clear that hate would not win.
Positive responses to white nationalist flyering and vandalism
With white nationalist flyering and vandalism continuing around the country, community groups stepped up to experiment with positive and creative responses to educate and mobilize people against bigotry. In Eugene, Oregon, the Community Alliance of Lane County and SURJ Eugene-Springfield worked together to canvass neighborhoods that had been targeted with antisemitic flyers. That same month, a South Dakota coalition spoke out to denounce white supremacy in response to similar antisemitic flyers, and residents of the Port Richmond neighborhood in Philadelphia organized on social media to swiftly remove flyers that appeared overnight. Vandalism against inclusive public art led to impactful community responses as well. After two rainbow crosswalks, a local small business and an LGBTQ+ youth organization faced anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism in Spokane, Washington, organizers mobilized to hold a pop-up Pride event and to support the arts nonprofit that created and maintains the rainbow crosswalks.
Holding bad actors accountable via the judicial system
Civil litigation continues to make a difference in the fight against bigotry and misinformation, including in some very high-profile cases. In March, Dominion Voting Systems came to a settlement agreement in its landmark defamation lawsuit against Fox News, in which the voting machine company alleged that Fox had damaged its business by spreading false claims about the 2020 election results. It also appears to have led to some personnel fallout, with Tucker Carlson, known for his dangerous promotion of the racist and antisemitic “great replacement theory” leaving the network. Later in the year, Rudy Giuliani was found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, over false claims of election fraud that led to harassment and threats against them, and ordered to pay a combined $148 million in damages. Civil litigation led to massive impact at the local level as well this year, with Ammon Bundy facing a multi-million dollar judgment for organizing a smear campaign against a Boise, Idaho hospital. The use of judicial accountability is ongoing, as important cases against bigoted groups and individuals are still awaiting final results. In Boston, a Black teacher and musician allegedly assaulted by members of the white nationalist Patriot Front filed a civil suit against the group this year; in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, both a drag queen and two former library trustees have had initial hearings in defamation suits against anti-democracy figures who made damaging, inaccurate accusations against them.
Positive state legislation and ballot measures
Throughout 2023, statewide advocacy groups, legislators and governors worked hard to enshrine protections for important civil rights. Minnesota was a standout example of legislative action nationwide, passing landmark legislation to restore voting rights to returning citizens, protect workers’ rights and ensure rights to abortion care and gender-affirming care. Ohio voters first rejected a measure that would have made it harder for voters to change the state constitution, then stood up against a ballot measure that would have banned abortion care. In total, twenty states plus Washington, D.C. now protect abortion care, and ten states have taken steps to expand access. Eleven states plus Washington, D.C. have passed explicit protections for gender-affirming care. Twenty-three states passed laws to expand voting rights in 2023, and many states have taken steps to protect workers’ right to organize this year as well. Small policy innovations have also been made in protecting the public from anti-democracy groups, with the city of Chicago explicitly banning police officers from participating in hate groups.
Pro-democracy faith-based and multifaith organizing on the rise
As anti-democracy groups increasingly exploit religious arguments to push exclusionary and bigoted ideas, more and more faith communities are actively standing up for their members’ stake in democracy in response. Interfaith and secular groups are getting more organized to counter Christian nationalism together, recognizing it as an authoritarian tendency that threatens many communities, and inclusive faith communities are standing up for the LGBTQ+ community in state legislatures and during Pride Month. This year, faith leaders and interfaith organizing groups have repeatedly spoken out against bigoted and Christian nationalist political influencer Sean Feucht and his partnership with Turning Point Faith, noting that his push for a country exclusively governed by those who subscribe to his brand of Christianity is incompatible with their own faith traditions. In Spokane, Washington, the Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience pushed candidates and elected officials who met with Feucht and local anti-democracy leader Matt Shea to disavow anti-democracy groups. Both the Mayor and the candidate for City Council who appeared with Shea and Feucht lost their races, with commentators citing the mayor’s association with anti-democracy leaders as a contributing factor in her loss.