DezNat

Short for “Deseret Nationalism,” #DezNat is a Twitter-based movement of Mormon alt-right figures documented in American Zion. The book situates it within a post-2016 “resurgence of insensitive comments and attitudes,” describing it as a “growing chorus of Mormon alt-right figures who wedded the racism of Trump’s movement with Latter-day Saint beliefs” — exemplified by blogger Ayla Stewart, who spoke at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. American Zion cites it alongside Alice Faulkner Burch’s observation that “racism still exists and still has a tight grip within the LDS Church” and the Public Religion Research Institute’s finding that Mormons ranked behind only White evangelicals on its Structural Racism Index in 2022.

Context: DezNat emerged around 2018 as a Twitter hashtag used by far-right, ultra-orthodox Latter-day Saints; “Deseret” refers to the historical name for the early Mormon settlement in the American West.

Where this appears

• American Zion — DezNat as a case study in the post-2016 fusion of Mormon identity with alt-right racial politics, set against the book’s broader account of race within the LDS Church.