The horrific bashing of LGBTQ+ teens is a sign of a dangerous Islamic State resurgence

An ABC investigation^[1] has unearthed horrifying vision of gay and bisexual teenagers being beaten unconscious in Sydney. The teenage boy perpetrators are reported to be supporters of Islamic State (IS).

The ABC journalists consulted and interviewed me for the piece, including showing me all the videos they’d obtained. The vision was sickening – but not surprising.

My research examines how people and communities become targets when otherwise distinct extremist ideologies converge around a perceived common enemy^[2].

We are seeing ideological convergences across Islamic extremist, far-right and other grievance-based movements that frame both Jewish Australians and LGBTQIA+ people as threats. Antisemitism will be under the microscope during the royal commission^[3], while Victoria is holding a parliamentary inquiry^[4] into attacks against LGBTQIA+ people.

With that in mind, the attacks in Sydney are not merely an abhorrent anomaly. Incidents like these are foreshadowing future, more severe violence, unless something is done to curb it.

Reviving thousands of years of hate

Violent, homophobic attacks are unfortunately nothing new, including in Australia.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, dozens of gay men^[5] were murdered in Sydney by youth gangs, who would lure the men to secluded places.

Some^[6] were mistakenly labelled as suicides. As a result, a lot of perpetrators were never held accountable.

This, combined with the stigma attached to being LGBTQIA+ in Australia, and policing strategies that members of these communities felt unfairly targeted them, led many to distrust law enforcement^[7].

There’s good reason for this. History is littered with examples of discriminatory policing, including the 1994 raid^[8] on a Melbourne gay nightclub, where patrons were subject to invasive strip searches, and the violence^[9] that ended the first ever Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978.

This bred reluctance to report hate crimes to police. It’s likely there were many more instances of violence than we know about.

Since then, there’s been a seismic shift in attitudes toward LGBTQIA+ people, both in policing and in the community. But now this history is butting up against today’s violent forces, putting LGBTQIA+ communities under threat again.

Read more: Dating apps are facilitating LGBTQ+ hate crimes. How can users stay safe?^[10]

The IS resurgence

In the current political climate, the recent attacks in Sydney will be seen by some as another instance of Muslim communities being targeted based on a very small minority of adherents, coming as it does after the Bondi terror attack and headlines around ISIS brides^[11]. Australian Muslims would likely be angry and disgusted by the actions of these youths.

But importantly, these developments are part of a broader story about Islamic State’s reawakening the world over, especially in Australia: a country that’s contributed a lot of fighters and sympathisers to the IS cause.

Australia was one of the Western countries that produced the most young men^[12] per capita to fight for IS in the 2010s. The men were very active in both recruitment of other fighters and in some of the worst atrocities, such as the young son of an Australian jihadist being photographed holding a severed head^[13].

The same jihadist, Khaled Sharrouf, also kept Yazidi women as sex slaves^[14].

Some men were stopped from leaving the country and were instead violent in Australia. Teenager Abdul Numan Haider was fatally shot^[15] in 2014 after threatening counterterrorism police with a knife.

Late last year, the Bondi terror attack brought this history back to the fore. The alleged attackers had an IS flag^[16] on their car.

An IS resurgence puts LGBTQIA+ Australians at particular risk. IS believes homosexuality is punishable by death^[17], and has a track record^[18] of throwing gay men from roofs.

A harbinger of what’s to come

Islamic State has long found^[19] its recruitment power in young, disenfranchised men and boys attracted to ideas of dominance and strength. The videos of the Sydney attacks show this in practice.

The boys, acting in the name of IS, continue to kick their victim once he’s unconscious, shouting slurs and threats.

Their willingness to use almost deadly force for a prolonged period of time shows a desensitisation to violence. Combined with their words during the attacks and their clothing, we can also see a high level of religious motivation.

The perpetrators, five of whom have been convicted for the bashings, are reported^[20] to be adherents to so-called “hate preachers”. These preachers are anti-Jewish, anti-gay and promote violent jihad^[21].

Under this influence, and the belief that LGBTQIA+ people are subhuman, the attackers think they can operate with moral impunity, and to a degree, criminal impunity^[22].

But it’s not just Islamic extremism driving rampant homophobia. Extreme-right groups such as the National Socialist Network have targeted pride events^[23] and drag story time^[24] with threats and intimidation.

Based on research^[25] and the extremism I study online, authorities should be seriously concerned about these sorts of hate crimes towards LGBTQIA+ people. Against the backdrop of tight law enforcement, resourcing, and the potential breakdown^[26] of protective procedures and policies related to the Bondi attack, these incidents require urgent attention.

Crucially, those communities targeted must be listened to, for they are intimately aware of the threats they face and potential security solutions.

Having hard conversations

We need to reach men and boys susceptible to being radicalised by IS before we see more mass violence. Casting a light on the issue is an important first step.

Then we need to stop hate preachers, cutting off the violence at the source. Proposed new laws^[27] in New South Wales will help, but the severity of the issue calls for a broader conversation.

Hate preachers operate in plain sight, often carefully calibrating statements to avoid hate speech legislation in public, while inciting hate privately. They target and groom young men, susceptible to narratives offering empowerment, perceived morality, strength and belonging through action.

Many more actors spreading hate operate in the shadows, often online and anonymously. The current political climate makes this a tricky discussion, especially as these issues are too often used for political advantage in bad faith, but we need to consider how to unmask these people and stop them spreading hate.

Little can be achieved while hate speech issues are weaponised for partisan advantage or reduced to culture war theatre. What is unfolding is not a symbolic debate but a security issue with immense human consequences.

The patterns are visible. The ideological convergence is documented. The grooming pathways are known.

If we continue to treat these incidents as isolated flare-ups rather than early warning signals, we will miss the opportunity to intervene before the violence escalates. That means bipartisan leadership, sustained resourcing for prevention and intelligence, and the courage to confront both online radicalisation and offline enablers without fear or favour.

References

1. ^{^} An ABC investigation (www.abc.net.au)
2. ^{^} perceived common enemy (theconversation.com)
3. ^{^} royal commission (asc.royalcommission.gov.au)
4. ^{^} parliamentary inquiry (www.theguardian.com)
5. ^{^} dozens of gay men (theguardian.com)
6. ^{^} Some (www.bbc.com)
7. ^{^} distrust law enforcement (theconversation.com)
8. ^{^} 1994 raid (www.abc.net.au)
9. ^{^} the violence (digital-classroom.nma.gov.au)
10. ^{^} Dating apps are facilitating LGBTQ+ hate crimes. How can users stay safe? (theconversation.com)
11. ^{^} ISIS brides (theconversation.com)
12. ^{^} the most young men (www.routledge.com)
13. ^{^} a severed head (www.abc.net.au)
14. ^{^} sex slaves (www.theguardian.com)
15. ^{^} was fatally shot (time.com)
16. ^{^} IS flag (www.afr.com)
17. ^{^} punishable by death (www.washingtonpost.com)
18. ^{^} track record (www.nbcnews.com)
19. ^{^} long found (link.springer.com)
20. ^{^} are reported (www.abc.net.au)
21. ^{^} promote violent jihad (www.abc.net.au)
22. ^{^} criminal impunity (www.abc.net.au)
23. ^{^} pride events (www.abc.net.au)
24. ^{^} drag story time (www.crikey.com.au)
25. ^{^} research (link.springer.com)
26. ^{^} potential breakdown (www.pmc.gov.au)
27. ^{^} Proposed new laws (www.nsw.gov.au)