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IDEOLOGY OF GAY RACIALIST SKINHEADS AND STIGMA MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES*
Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Summer 2006 by Waldner, Lisa K, Martin, Heather, Capeder, Lyndsay
What is exceptional is that unlike Felton, Pierpont, or Hawke, who hid their ancestry and did not dispute movement ideology while holding leadership or membership positions in various WP groups, gay racialist skins simultaneously challenge and express allegiance to WPM goals. This is unique because although there is disagreement and debate within the WPM on various issues including political goals, religion, Holocaust revisionism, and the role of women, both within and between WPM factions, ideology regarding race, anti-Semitism, and homosexuality is bedrock. While gay racialist skins accept bedrock views on race and anti-Semitism while challenging views on homosexuality, there is no similar effort by any ethnic minority to be accepted by WP groups by adopting anti-Semitic and homophobic ideologies while challenging bedrock views on race.
Yet, assuming that some gay individuals would not identify with WP groups or cannot hold racialist views presupposes that sexuality comes prepackaged with "political ideals such that one can be fascist, or queer, but not both" (Kirby 1995:89). In Nationalism and Sexuality, George L. Mosse (1985) argues that racism was a persistent theme in early homosexual journals and used as a means of gaining respectability. As in mainstream society, racism does exist within the gay community (Lanzerotti, Meyer, Ormiston, and Podwoski 2002) with institutionalized racism considered a significant barrier to the success of the gay rights movement (Gay Today 2002) but following the lead of Blee (2002), we are interested in what she terms "extraordinary racism." Many individuals, including gays, hold anti-Semitic views but believing that Jews are orchestrating a mass conspiracy to kill off the white race through the domination and control of societal institutions is what differentiates ordinary racism from the extraordinary. What then might explain why some individuals combine gay and extraordinary racialist identities? A closer examination of gay and racialist experiences suggests there are some commonalities across both groups.
Mitch Berbrier's comparative analysis of deaf, gay and white supremacist activists finds that both gays and white supremacists consider themselves stigmatized and a minority or group without power. "White supremacists find themselves arguing, albeit reluctantly, that they also belong in a minority space with other groups" (2002:576). While WP rhetoric suggests discomfort with entering into or occupying minority space, Berbrier notes that the effort is still made. Furthermore, both gays and white supremacists have been influenced by the civil rights movement with "Black Pride" modified by gay rights groups into "gay pride" and white separatist groups using "white power, white pride" (Dobratz and Shanks-Meile 1997). Berbrier offers other examples of WPM and Civil Rights Movement parallels including David Duke's deliberate reference to the NAACP through the creation of the NAAWP (National Association for the Advancement of White People). We would add to this comparison of similarities the use of essentialist explanations.
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