FIRST ON FOX: The conservative, “woke-free” beer company that launched last year hoping to rival Bud Light will host an event Tuesday at a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill fraternity house to celebrate the actions of the students who defended the American flag from anti-Israel protesters on campus earlier this week.

Dubbed the “Frat Boy Summer Kickoff,” the event will be held at the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity house and will be hosted by the Ultra Right Beer Company.

“We’re trying to get this very organic, just a good old-fashioned, frat row, beer party,” said Seth Weathers, CEO of Ultra Right Beer Company, told Fox News Digital. “I love what the kids did, obviously, protecting the flag.”

“I love the idea of just continuing to encourage them about what they did so that that will encourage, you know, other kids in college and everywhere else to know they did the right thing,” he added.

UNC FRAT BROTHERS WHO DEFENDED US FLAG SPEAK OUT: ‘DEEPLY IMPORTANT TO US’

Ultra Right Beer Company will be giving away free beer to those in attendance for what Weathers believes will turn into a “really good event” that “multiple fraternities” and Old Row, a Barstool Sports subsidiary, are involved with.

“We’re doing free beer,” he said. “We’re making it really simple — show up, you got free beer. We’re bringing half a tractor trailer load of beer for this thing just in anticipation of the kind of crowd it sounds like we’re going to have.”

Multiple fraternity brothers at UNC Chapel Hill garnered praise earlier this week after they were photographed hoisting an American flag that had been removed once and replaced with a Palestinian flag on the university’s quad. Their decision to step in came as anti-Israel agitators attempted to take down the American flag for a second time after UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts responded with law enforcement officers to return the American flag to its place.

The flag had been flying at half-staff after four Charlotte officers were killed in the line of duty Monday.

Weathers said the event is a “pro-America celebration in celebration of these kids and what they did in encouraging more to do the same.”

UNC FRATERNITY BROTHERS DEFEND REINSTATED AMERICAN FLAG FROM CAMPUS MOB WHO REPLACED WITH PALESTINIAN FLAG

UNC Chapel Hill students hold up the American flag during a campus protest on April 30, 2024. (Parker Ali/The Daily Tar Heel)

“Our brand’s all about that. We’re all about patriotism, and we’re all about people boldly showing their patriotism and their beliefs. And when you see kids doing it, we’re excited about that,” he said.

Several Republican lawmakers have praised the fraternity brothers for stepping in and refusing to allow the removal of the American flag from its campus, including Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, who praised them for displaying “extreme courage” and “deep patriotism.”

The fraternity brothers defended the flag for over an hour until police were able to clear the protest and safely place it back on the flagpole. All the while, the frat brothers experienced profanity and rude gestures from protesters, along with water, bottles and rocks being thrown at them.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre remarked this week that the students’ actions were “admirable.”

A GoFundMe page was created to throw the fraternity brothers a “rager” for their decision to defend the flag on campus and raised more than $500,000, as of Saturday.

The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s campus on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Fox News Digital)

“These kids are going to be pulled a million directions with everyone trying to get a hold of their GoFundMe money,” Weather said. “We wanted to do something organic for them to encourage more of the patriotism we saw on campus last week.”

Ultra Right Beer Company launched in April 2023 as a rival to Bud Light following its partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, which ruffled the feathers of conservatives around the country who had long supported the beer giant.

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin and Alexander Hall contributed to this report.

Huntington Beach radiates California cool. The best surfers in the world descend here each summer to compete on waves rolling in under its public pier. Convertibles zoom past towering palms along Pacific Coast Highway. Beachfront homeowners enjoy breathtaking views, and everybody seems to sport a hang-loose attitude.

But trans activist Kanan Durham says Surf City USA and Orange County in general have grown more and more unwelcoming — in some cases hostile — for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Durham, 32, joined other concerned Orange County residents to form the nonprofit group Pride at the Pier to push back against what they say is a rising tide of hate here that’s emblematic of a trend seen across the country.

When Huntington Beach’s conservative-majority City Council voted last year to ban the display of most flags on city property — including the rainbow flag, a global emblem of LGBTQ+ pride, unity and self-expression — members of the group took to the pier, waving Pride flags in protest.

Their act of defiance was met with a rebuke of sorts when voters approved a measure to write the ban into the City Charter.

Given that only about 26% of registered Orange County voters cast ballots on Super Tuesday in March, Durham worries that many have stopped following local government and therefore may not realize a crisis is unfolding. He’s concerned that some will see battles over Pride flags as little more than business as usual in an era when no aspect of life seems immune from the polarization that defines U.S. politics.

No one should assume that LGBTQ+ Californians are shielded from prejudice simply because they live in a progressive state where Democrats hold sway, he says.

“California is complicated,” says Durham, executive director of Pride at the Pier. “There are a lot of people who see California as this blue bubble where this stuff doesn’t happen. They don’t realize how much danger that marginalized communities face.”

Supporters of the flag ban argue that identity- and issue-based flags are divisive in a city they insist is tolerant and inclusive.

Yet Huntington Beach has had a hard time shaking its reputation as a haven for racists and far-right extremists.

In the 1980s, its pier and downtown were well-known gathering places for skinheads. Two racially motivated killings in the ’90s prompted the creation of a task force to celebrate diversity.

Some saw an improvement in the city’s race relations as people of color became the majority in Orange County, but in 2018, police arrested four members of a Huntington Beach-based white supremacist group on charges of organizing and participating in riots. In 2022, several people in town woke up to antisemitic fliers on their front lawns that blamed Jewish officials in the Biden administration for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Huntington Beach became the site of demonstrations for LGBTQ+ rights after City Council members voted to stop flying the Pride flag and other banners on government property.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

If you happen to be LGBTQ+ and live or work in Orange County communities, Durham says, it’s hard not to feel singled out too.

Durham works in the service industry in Huntington Beach and lives about a 20-minute drive from its famed beaches. He declined to say where in Orange County he resides because he’s concerned about suffering retribution for speaking openly about his identity and controversial policies such as the flag ban.

This fear is widely shared, he says. Some supporters of Pride at the Pier have reached out on social media saying that while they want to attend the group’s demonstrations in Huntington Beach, they worry about being harassed or attacked over their LGBTQ+ identity.

Many want to get involved but don’t know how they as individuals can make a difference in yet another round of culture wars, says Jay Garner, a friend of Durham who has lived in Huntington Beach since 2019.

People need to understand how debilitating it can be to constantly feel as if you must fight for your right to exist and be yourself, says Garner, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.

“It does weigh on me,” Garner says.

Jessamyn Garner, a nonbinary resident of Huntington Beach, has experienced hostility, including verbal abuse while walking on the street, because of their queer identity.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Garner, 32, works as the marketing and communications director for the Orange County chapter of YIMBY Action, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing. They describe themselves as butch in appearance — short-cropped hair, button-down Oxfords. Looking different can be risky, even in a beach town that comes across as laid-back, they say.

“I can’t go downtown because I get harassed,” Garner says. “Walking down the street, I will get heckled by somebody who’s just driving by. … They’ll yell ‘dyke!’ I try not to escalate, because you never know which person is going to turn violent.”

Hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in Orange County — and across California and the U.S. — have skyrocketed in recent years.

The Human Rights Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group, has declared a “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ Americans because hundreds of bills have been introduced in state legislatures that target gender-affirming healthcare, school textbooks that portray queer identity in a positive light, drag shows and the ability of trans Americans to use restrooms, play on sports teams or obtain driver’s licenses that match their gender identity.

In September, the Orange Unified School District unanimously approved a measure requiring schools to notify parents if a student asks to be identified or addressed as a gender that is different from the one they were assigned at birth.

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has condemned similar “forced outing” policies approved last year by school boards in Temecula and Murrieta, calling them harmful to the safety and well-being of transgender and gender nonconforming youth. Temecula’s school district also banned all banners except the U.S. and state flags.

When Huntington Beach Councilmember Pat Burns introduced the flag ordinance last year, he portrayed his city as one where “we are all equal.”

“Our flags that we have, that represent our government, are what is important to unify us,” Burns said during a packed hearing on the ordinance.

Not everyone has heeded his unifying message.

Huntington Beach City Council members listen to comments about the proposed City Charter amendments, which voters approved.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Durham recalls his shock when someone at a council hearing in December shouted “pedophile” when he stood to express dismay about the flag ban and other policies. He says he’s also received violent threats on social media.

Garner has attended several hearings with Durham.

“It’s hard to hear this kind of rhetoric from people who I consider to be my neighbors, a part of my community,” Garner says.

Other groups have responded to the hostility in their own ways. Viet Rainbow of Orange County, an organization focused on “equity, healing, joy and social justice” that serves the Asian American community, has organized “Know Your Rights” workshops for LGBTQ+ students and promoted self-defense and personal safety training on its Facebook page.

Like many who’ve felt compelled to speak out against hate, Durham said he never intended to become a voice for LGBTQ+ rights in Orange County. In the few years since he transitioned, he has mostly kept his life journey to himself, because he knows that not everyone embraces transgender Americans.

“I stayed in the closet long, long after I knew I was trans — for over a decade,” he says. “I didn’t want to lose friends. I didn’t want to lose family. When I came out, I did lose friends. I sent my family a letter, and they just went radio silent.”

Durham says the city’s decision to bar displaying the rainbow flag serves as a reminder of how unwelcoming parts of Orange County can be for LGBTQ+ people.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Durham came to know Huntington Beach while growing up in the Bay Area. His family visited twice a year to spend time with relatives.

“I saw how wonderful Orange County can be, and I fell in love with it,” he says. “I really think the majority of people who live here are not hateful.”

He points to the fact that in 2021, the city took steps to embrace the LGBTQ+ community, most notably by flying the rainbow flag on city property during Pride Month.

The conservative majority that voters elected to the City Council in 2022 ushered in a dramatic shift — approving, for example, the creation of a parent advisory board to screen children’s books for sexually explicit content and block the purchase of new publications that members deem inappropriate.

Council members who back the library measure have said they are only trying to protect children.

While the harsh words of supporters have attracted the most attention, many residents who’ve spoken out at recent hearings have voiced opposition.

“On one hand, we have more allies in Orange County than ever before, which equates to affirming neighborhoods, businesses, schools and employers,” says Peg Corley, executive director of LGBTQ Center Orange County, a nonprofit advocacy and community service organization in Santa Ana.

“On the other hand, there are pockets of Orange County, like Huntington Beach, where the City Council majority is focused on turning back the clock to the 1950s,” she said.

A scene on Huntington Beach in 2020.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Only federal or state flags can be flown on city property in Huntington Beach.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Corley says the overriding message the council has sent to queer residents, workers and visitors over the last year is, “Go spend your LGBTQ+ dollars somewhere else.”

Durham says Pride at the Pier won’t give up.

Building on the momentum generated by its events last year, the group plans to host its second Pride celebration later this year on the Huntington Beach waterfront. Durham says there are plans to hire extra security to make those who attend feel safe.

Standing outside City Hall, Durham unfurls his own rainbow flag, which is so big it billows around him while he talks about the need to get more people involved in the fight to protect LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms in Orange County.

“We cannot get past this point in our history without joining hands with as many people as possible,” Durham says.

“This is about more than a piece of fabric.”

A coalition of anti-Israel agitators seeking to protest outside the Democratic National Convention in August are continuing to put pressure on the City of Chicago, alleging their First Amendment rights are being violated, while some Democrats fear unrest could disrupt the annual convention.

A series of lawsuits have been filed against the city in recent months by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Anti-War Coalition, and Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois — some of which have voiced support for the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Chicago.

In a Tuesday filing at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the coalition of protesters stated they want to “engage in peaceful political speech and seek to exercise their First Amendment rights at the Convention to deliver their political messages directly to… President Biden.”

That effort is being stifled by the City of Chicago, which denied the groups “respective applications for parade permits within sight or sound of the Convention,” according to the filing.

YOUNG DEMOCRATS UPSET OVER GAZA COULD REACH ‘1968 PROPORTIONS’ IF THE WHITE HOUSE ISN’T CAREFUL, AUTHOR SAYS

“Instead, the City, on information at the behest of the DNC, unilaterally decided to offer an alternative parade route approximately four (4) miles away buried on a tree lined street in an entirely other part of the City, clearly to protect President Biden and others from hearing the Plaintiffs’ political message,” the coalition stated in the filing. “In doing so, the City failed to consider to least restrictive route narrowly tailored to meet a compelling government interest. Indeed, the City admitted it considered no other alternative than the one it seeks to force on Plaintiffs and failed to engage Plaintiffs to consider less restrictive options.”

The 2024 Democratic convention, which is slated to be held this summer in Chicago at the United Center from August 19 – 22, will be attended by Democrats from all over the country. It will also be where the party announces its official nominee for the 2024 presidential election, which is expected to be a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.

The groups also claimed the City of Chicago is “working with the DNC” in an effort “to limit the number of peaceful parades organized to deliver political speech by denying permit applications solely on the grounds that such applications are ‘duplicative.’”

“This provision violated the First Amendment on its face as it is vague and overly broad and has been interpreted by the Defendants to allow … not only [denying] permit applications but even seek criminal and civil penalties against any organization and its members applying for a parade permit on more than one date or against two or more organizations with even a single member in common which seek parade permits,” the groups noted in the filing.

The groups filed for a preliminary injunction and have requested a federal judge grant them better access to the event for their planned protest, which has been dubbed “March on the DNC 2024.”

“Instead of meeting with us and working out a compromise that brings us within sight and sound of the DNC, the city has tried to shut us away in a corner,” Liz Rathburn, a member of the Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago, told one local outlet last month.

BIDEN, HARRIS COULD FACE ‘REAL PROTESTS’ AT CHICAGO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, SAYS FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER

Anti-Israel protests quickly spread across the campuses of many prominent American universities and colleges in recent weeks and months. (Getty Images)

In a March filing, the coalition said Biden is “the one person who could stop the suffering in Gaza with a single phone call.”

The Washington Post noted in a Saturday morning report that Democrats are “bracing for massive protests” at the August convention as more and more anti-Israel protests sweep the nation, primarily on college campuses.

“Peaceful protest is fundamental to American democracy, and has been a fixture of political conventions for decades,” Matt Hill, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Convention, said in a statement to the outlet. “While Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans stoke political violence, we support the ongoing security coordination at all levels of government to keep our convention safe.”

Hill added, “When the country looks to Chicago this August, the unity and excitement of Democrats will stand in stark contrast to the chaos and extremism stewing in the GOP.”

Similar protests are planned for the Republican National Convention in July. However, the Post noted the protests planned for the Democratic National Convention are likely to be “more robust.”

Members of the coalition previously vowed to protest “with or without” permits outside the convention.

“We’ll be marching with or without permits. This DNC is the most important one since 1968, also in Chicago when Vietnam War protesters and the black liberation movement organized mass demonstrations that were violently repressed,” Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, said at a conference last month. “The march on the DNC will be the largest mobilization for Palestine in the history of the city.”

Anti-Israel protesters hold a sign depicting President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with blood on their hands, on the campus of Ohio State University on May 1, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (Andrew Spear/Getty Images)

Reacting to concern among Democrats who may be worried with how the protests could impact the party’s image come August, Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk wrote in a Thursday post to X, “The Democratic National Convention this August has a good chance of outdoing 1968!”

Musk’s comment on the matter referenced the party’s 1968 convention, which was marred by seven days of violent protests over the Vietnam War under then-President Lyndon Johnson. The protests took place just months after the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.