Kevin Wilshaw, a prominent British neonazi who actively participated in the actions of the National Front, a political organization that promotes white supremacy, has renounced his political career. He did this in an interview with Channel 4 News where he “came out of the closet,” admitting not only that he is homosexual but also that his mother is Jewish.
“My mother is partially Jewish. Her maiden name is Benjamin. From that side, we have Jewish blood in the family,” said Wilshaw, who has been active in the National Front since the ’80s and has often publicly advocated, well, it is quite clear, completely contradictory moral values to the facts arising from his now publicly known identity in Britain.
Regarding the reasons why he joined the neonazis, Wilshaw said:
“I didn’t have many school friends, and I wanted to be part of a group that had clear goals. I thought that if I joined them, I would create a circle of friends… Even though you become part of a group that is socially isolated due to its extreme views, you have a sense of belonging since others are constantly attacking you,” he explained.
Being a Nazi, a homosexual of Jewish descent is completely contradictory to everything the National Front stands for. Wilshaw felt this on his own skin when other members of the group suspected him of being homosexual.
“If you are homosexual, then it is accepted in society, but not in organizations like this one. I experienced this several times when other members suspected me of being homosexual. I was subjected to abuse,” he said.
“I know I was selfish because I also spat, insulted, and humiliated people who were different, but only when you experience the same on your own skin do you realize how wrong it is to do such things,” he repented before the TV cameras.
He also added that there are indeed homosexuals in key positions within the National Front, but, he claims, even though this is all known, no one in that organization questions how it is possible for homosexuals to lead an organization with an extremely homophobic agenda.
While he was a member of the National Front, he witnessed and participated in violent attacks on people of different races. Although, he says, he always found it disgusting, he witnessed it several times, and once he even smashed a chair over a man’s head just because he was black. In the early ’90s, Wilshaw ended up in prison for vandalizing a mosque in the town of Aylesbury.
The ticket for exit was offered to him by Matthew Collins, also a former member of the National Front, and now an activist in the organization Hope not Hate, which seeks to address issues of racism. Wilshaw made a phone call to Collins, which he understood as a cry for help.
“I realized he was fighting with himself, so he was becoming more extreme. I expected a cry for help, and that is exactly what he did,” Collins said.
Wilshaw also expects revenge from his former colleagues, convinced that at least “…two or three would want to get rid of me because for them what I did is pure betrayal…”, but currently, his biggest concern is how to repair the damaged relationships in his own family.
