The Humanities Institute at the University of Connecticut held their first undergraduate fellow’s talk on Wednesday. The talk was hosted by Breanna Bonner and Nathan Howard. Bonner is a fourth-semester student seeking a dual degree in human rights and political science. Howard is an eighth-semester student majoring in philosophy with a minor in music.
The talk began with Howard’s presentation on “Homofascism: The Queering of Hate.” His presentation started with the example of Johannes Bügner, a gay neo-Nazi who was stabbed to death in Hamburg in 1981 for his sexual orientation. Howard posits the question: “What might this incident reveal about gay men’s relationship to fascism?”
He described how for fascists, antisemitism and homophobia have historically gone hand-in-hand. Howard pulled a quote from Heinrich Himmler: “[The murder of gay men] wasn’t a punishment, but simply the extinguishment of abnormal life. It had to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap, and burn them.” Howard pointed out how this type of rhetoric has been parroted by modern white supremacy nationalist groups.
Yet, there have been instances where gay men are involved with these fascist groups. A famous example that Howard mentions is Ernst Röhm, an early Nazi and close friend of Hitler. His homosexuality was known, but Hitler tolerated it in favor of his soldiers which were valuable to the rise of the Nazi party.
Howard defined white supremacist fascism as “the integration of white supremacist racial, gender, and sexual ideologies into the feature of generic fascism.” Some key components of this that he highlights are hierarchy being biologically ordained, masculinism and the endorsement of violence.
[the murder of gay men] wasn’t a punishment, but simply the extinguishment of abnormal life. it had to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap, and burn them.
Heinrich Himmler
To conclude his presentation, Howard hypotheses that homofascism is created due to “whiteness” being valued above all else. “Whiteness is prized due to its cultural superiority,” Howard stated. Yet at the same time, Howard points out that white supremacist fascism and homosexuality are irreconcilable. The two concepts ultimately clash no matter what.
The second presentation was by Bonner, titled “The Space Between Black and Liberation: A Digital Exploration of Intersectional Invisibility.” Her work consists of a website that she and Melina Sandal created and are currently working on.
Bonner began by presenting a poem she created, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and various Black women who have been the victim of police brutality. One that particularly stood out to her was Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl who was shot by a police officer in Ohio on April 20, 2021. “Ma’Khia’s shooting shook me,” Bonner stated. Bonner mentions how she felt that Bryant’s killing was greatly glossed over by the media and how, since her killer was not charged, it was deemed a justifiable homicide.
There has been a trend of Black women being ignored by the public, due to both their race and their gender. To explain this, Bonner brought up the term “intersectional invisibility.” She defined it as “the unique experience in which persons holding multiple identities (race, gender, religion, sexuality, etc.) are further marginalized through social movements.”
Initially, her project started as a large text, but Bonner realized that a visual element was necessary. This is when she began her website and workshopped its format through many sticky notes. Bonner noted that she felt sorry for how many trees she must’ve gone through. Her website, blackandliberation.com explores intersectional invisibility through testimonies by Black women at UConn, a chronological organization of the movement and recommendations that Bonner makes to move forward.
Both Bonner and Howard’s projects are still ongoing. Howard seeks a better explanation for why homofascism exists and how it can be prevented, while Bonner seeks to expand her website and make Black women seen.
Ma’Khia Bryant was not a victim of police brutality, and pretending she was is a disservice to people who are.