Stolzmonat

{{Altright}}
The '''''Stolzmonat''''' (literal German translation of "pride month", but don't let this fool you) is a far-right [[astroturf]]ed [[trolling]] campaign. While not getting much attention in the so-called "real world", they manage to be nearly unavoidable in the Germanophone [[Twitter]] bubble. 
==Origins==
[[File:Patriotenmonat.png|thumb|left|"Our rainbow has only two colours: PATRIOTSMONTH, not Pridemonth!" No, they are ''not'' colorblind and this is ''not'' a cute butch/femme couple on a lesbian flag.]]
In 2021, the youth organisation of the right-wing populist Austrian [[FPÖ]] party tried to create a campaign under the "''#Patriotenmonat''" hashtag, using [[queerphobic]] and [[nationalistic]] phrases and imagery.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=45801 |title= AfD: "Stolzmonat" statt Pride Month|date=June 2, 2023 |website=queer.de |access-date=2023-07-14}}</ref> They earned rather little attention and a charge of [[Hate speech|incitement to hatred]] for a sharepic likening the pride flag to garbage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nau.ch/news/europa/freiheitlicher-jugend-droht-anzeige-wegen-pride-verhetzung-66193457 |title= Freiheitlicher Jugend droht Anzeige wegen Pride-Verhetzung|date=June 4, 2022 |website=nau.ch |access-date=2023-07-14}}</ref> A year later, in March 2022, the Twitter account "Stolzmonat" was created and immediately appealed to "oppose the (rainbow) madness and return to [[NSDAP|German values and virtues]]". It links to the now defunct, professionally-designed website stolzmonat.cc, which contains the basic premises of the yet-to-come campaign, a profile picture generator using a weird multiple-striped version of the German flag and a handful of primary-school-level facts about Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601001934/https://stolzmonat.cc/ |title=  stolzmonat.cc Archive from June 1, 2023 on the Internet Archive|date=June 1, 2023 |website=web.archive.org |access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref> In late May 2023 the Twitter account of the Wuppertal [[AfD]] parliamentary group set off the bomb by posting a nationalistic quote of a song by the rapper Fler, who afterwards distanced himself from them, and using the prepared hashtag. In June 2023, a multitude of far-right Twitterers, organised by the [[antisemitic]] and [[racist]] influencer [[Alt-right glossary#Shlomo|"Shlomo Finkelstein"]] (''Die Vulgäre Analyse''), set parts of their profile picture or banner to the ''Stolzmonat'' flag and started spreading the hashtag and the link to the website.<ref name=rechtemedieninfo>{{cite web |url=https://rechtemedieninfo.blogspot.com/2023/06/stolzmonat-die-antwort-auf-den-pride.html |title=  #Stolzmonat - Die Antwort auf den Pride-Month|date=June 2, 2023 |website=rechtemedieninfo.blogspot.com |access-date=2023-07-14}}</ref>{{clearleft}}

==Participiants==
Mostly the usual suspects, anonymous, often male far-right, right-extreme, and fascistic Twitter accounts and influencers. But it also gets some support among higher-profile persons and groups, including:
*some AFD MPs, including 
Landolf Ladig
 
Bernd
 [[Björn Höcke]], who is considered the most influential politician in the AfD and one of the more extreme in an already far-right party
*various local [[AfD]] groups
*their crazier youth group, the Junge Alternative (which also tries to profit off the Stolzmonat by selling merch), and the JA's chairman MP Hannes Gnauck
*some members of the [[Identitarian|Identitarian Movement]]
*the Austrian ex-vice president Heinz-Christian Strache (FPÖ)<ref name=rnd.de>{{cite web |url=https://www.rnd.de/panorama/stolzmonat-wie-rechte-den-pride-month-auf-twitter-und-facebook-kapern-wollen-CZGCPDETXFGAXNE2WCKI4LBDCQ.html |title= „Stolzmonat“ statt Pride Month: Wie Rechte den Kampf für Gleichberechtigung kapern wollen|date=June 23, 2023 |website=rnd.de |access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>
*"alternative media" and self-declared "ideology-free" blogger Boris Reitschuster did not participate, but showed sympathy on his blog.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reitschuster.de/post/stolzmonat-statt-pride-month-schnappatmung-in-queer-community/|title=„Stolzmonat“ statt „Pride Month“ – Schnappatmung in Queer-Community|date=June 2, 2023 |website=reitschuster.de |access-date=2023-07-31}}</ref>

==Methods==
The central element of the campaign is the [[meme]]tic warfare against [[queer]] activists, [[LGBTQ]] persons and supporters. Their profiles and comments are flooded with hateful memes and verbal attacks. To appeal to less extreme users, the ''Stolzmonat'' campaign tries to appear organically grown and not centrally organised. It tries to mark nationalists as the "[[Silent Majority|silent majority]]" and actually oppressed, in contrast to the LGBTQ community, whom they portray as an influential [[lobby]] group. To support this view and to gain even more contributors, calls to push the #Stolzmonat hashtag and to use the ''Stolzmonat''-associated flag were spread. Some participants also tried to nominate "''Stolzmonat''" for the quite popular vote for the German youth word of the year, but ultimately failed.<ref name=rnd.de />
<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de/stolzmonat-rechtsradikale-social-media-kampagne-gegen-den-pride-month-100133/ |title=  #Stolzmonat – Rechtsradikale Social Media Kampagne gegen den Pride Month|date=June 6, 2023 |website=www.amadeu-antonio-stiftung.de |access-date=2023-07-14}}</ref> Due to the [[laissez-faire]] approach towards moderation under Twitter chief [[Elon Musk]], far-right influencers do not have to fear serious consequences.

==Maus attacks==
In a completely absurd turn of events, participants of the ''Stolzmonat'' clashed with the universally loved children show ''Die Sendung mit der Maus'' (The show with the mouse) after a sharepic showing the cartoon protagonists on a pride flag was posted by its Twitter account. Under the "''#Stolzmaus''" and "''#Abschiebelefant''" hashtags, the eponymous mouse and its sidekick, a blue cartoon elephant, were misportrayed as supporters of the AFD and expulsion of refugees.<ref name=rechtemedieninfo /> The show already attracted a transphobic shitstorm in 2022 after an article complaining about "indoctrination of our children" was posted in the conservative newspaper ''Die Welt''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.welt.de/debatte/kommentare/article239209511/Transfeindlichkeit-ist-keine-Meinung-sondern-Menschenfeindlichkeit.html |title= Homo- und Transfeindlichkeit ist keine Meinung – sondern Menschenfeindlichkeit|date=June 7, 2022 |website=www.welt.de |access-date=2023-08-06}}</ref>

==Example image==
[[File:Stolzmonat_example.png|thumb|left]]{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Austria]]
[[Category:Far-right politics]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:German politics]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Right-wing troll campaigns]]

Categories: Austria, Far-right politics, Germany, German politics, Homophobia, Right-wing troll campaigns