A prominent English neo-Nazi quit the movement, acknowledged his Jewish roots, and came out as gay
- Kevin Wilshaw was active in extreme right circles ever since he was 18
- Feeling guilty about his past, he has come out as gay and part-Jewish, and now denounces the neo-Nazi movement
In a stunning tell-all interview with Parac O'Brien of Channel 4 News, longtime neo-Nazi organizer Kevin Wilshaw announced that he had left the movement, said he identifies himself as gay, and revealed that his mother is Jewish.
Wilshaw said he had been active in fascist circles in Britain ever since his teens, citing social alienation and a lack of friends for his turn toward the neo-Nazi movement.
Wilshaw applied to join the National Front and the World Union of National Socialists, two well-known neo-Nazi organizations, shortly after he turned 18. He became a major organizer with the National Front, which operates as a fascist party in the UK.
He did so even though his mother was part Jewish. Wilshaw said he was able to disentangle his mother's heritage from his hatred of Jews in general.
"That term 'the Jews' is the global faceless mass of people you can't personalize it, not individuals," Wilshaw said. "That's the generalization that leads to 6 million people being deliberately murdered."
This generalization is what led Wilshaw to commit violence against counter-protestors, perpetuate hate online, and vandalize a mosque.
But it took his fellow Nazi organizers - who abused him for suspecting he was gay - to make him realize that what he was doing wasn't right.
"It's a terribly selfish thing to say but it's true, I saw people being abused, shouted at, spat at in the street - it's not until it's directed at you that you suddenly realize that what you're doing is wrong," Wilshaw said.
Wilshaw now fully identifies as a gay man, and said he came forward with his story because felt "appallingly guilty."