'Drag queens eating bleeding hearts, kids given sex toys to train' - The lies which failed to stop Pride in Franklin, Tenn

Franklin, Tenn council member shows a photo of what she claims is a drag queen biting into a "live, bleeding heart."

All of these horror stories about drag queens grooming kids, pride events trying to convert kids, and trans activists pressuring kids into surgeries are a bunch of lies. It always amazes me when people sound astounded that these lies continue. That's what hate is all about. It never goes away. It simply takes different forms. And, as we are seeing now,  covered up with less alarming, calmer verbiage and phraseology. But the root is always hate, ignorance, and foolishness. No matter how its dressed up as concern for children, community standards, and religious beliefs, we are still talking about irrational hatred. 

And sooner or later, it always comes out. 

A good example was Tuesday night in the city of Franklin, Tenn. The city council was voting on a motion to grant a permit for the Franklin Pride Festival. It was approved but only after a wild meeting in which several folks came out to speak against granting the permit. What got everything stirred up were rumors - not proven of course - of salacious behavior in front of children. Supposedly a "gyrating drag queen." You know how these scenarios progress. Someone spreads a story about children supposedly seeing something x-rated at a gay event and people come out of the woodwork because they feel free to express their hidden prejudices. For the sake of the children, of course.

And Tuesday night they came out in droves spewing all sorts of things. I want to spotlight two because they are the epitome of my general point.

During the meeting, Alderman At Large Gabrielle Hanson held up a picture of supposedly a drag queen biting into a "live bleeding heart." While holding up the picture, Hanson supposedly warned that "this could have happened here."

Correction: Her comment was about a drag queen biting into "a live, *bleeding* heart." And this was the photo she held up. https://t.co/pcQfXvVnGO pic.twitter.com/qNfD8Pw8WQ

— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) April 12, 2023

Hanson voted against granting the permit. But as outrageous as that was, another speaker probably stands in a category of her own. The unidentified woman with the "We The People" t-shirt claimed that in another place which had Pride, there was a "rainbow room" in which "eight-to 12 kids were given butt plugs and dildos and trained."

Tonight, Franklin, TN is set to take a vote on a permit for the city's Pride festival.
Here's some of the public comment.
"It started out as Pride coming in and I thought everything would be ok...it ended with a rainbow room where 8-12 y/o kids were given butt plugs and dildos." pic.twitter.com/wyKXaD4ZwQ

— Adam Mintzer (@adammintzer) April 11, 2023

Furthermore according to her it was "horrendous," a comment which left many folks on the thread asking if she has witnessed this then why didn't she report it. Of course a lot of those comments were VERY  skeptical of her claim. They made particular note of her extreme dramatics, fake crying, and super heaving. Between you and me, she did everything BUT pass out at the end of her testimony.

I guess sometimes you have let a bigot speak. That is after giving them two things - space for them to put their foot in their own mouths (because that is generally what happens) and barbeque sauce for when they complain about how their foot tastes.

My point is never be fooled by how normal certain things sound when it comes to undermining LGBTQ rights and health. Behind every excuse is a lie. Behind every claim of genuine concern is an irrational fear. And they always come out sooner or later.

Tweets by Mike Hixenbaugh, senior investigative reporter at NBC News.