Digitally altered photo falsely accuses CA state legislator Scott Wiener of 'sexualizing' children

 

Bigot spread a digitally altered photo of gay CA legislator Scott Wiener to make it seem as if he approves of sexually grooming children.

I've said it once and I will say it again - once the anti-LGBTQ industry finds a good lie, they will continuously repeat it no matter how many times it has been refuted.

An recent incident involving an openly gay California state legislator Scott Wiener proves this point. Check out the tweet below.

A California State Senator, Destrict 11, Scott Wiener has a bill he has introduced. “Among other allowances, it authorizes courts to “take temporary jurisdiction” of a child if they have “been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care.” pic.twitter.com/Oc0HPheJAU

— Scott Mason (@hypnoksa) June 25, 2023

Wiener supports legislation allowing trans kids to get gender-affirming care, so wannabe social media influencers on Twitter have accused him of "grooming" kids. This tweet accentuates the accusation because it shows Wiener proudly holding a book which encourages kids to keep secrets from their parents. The implication is that Wiener supports being kids molested, sexualized, or "groomed" and not  telling their parents. As you can see, the tweet has spread. Here are just a few retweets:

But guess what - and you know where I am going with this - it is a lie. The picture was digitally altered. Here is the actual picture:

As more & more states ban books & drag queens, we’re celebrating both at San Francisco Public Library’s #NightOfIdeas. pic.twitter.com/i4pk9Qxdix

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) March 5, 2023

And what's worse about this lie is that it was already refuted by several news sources. This is what Reuters said in March:

Erik Mebust, communications director for Wiener, told Reuters via email that the recently shared altered photo originates from a March 4 tweet by Wiener, which shows an identical background and apparel In his original photo posted in March, Wiener is holding a book with a yellow cover titled, “Gender Pioneers."  The photo was taken at the San Francisco Public Library’s “Celebration: Night of Ideas” event, held on March 4. Mebust said the circulating photo is “digitally altered” and an attempt to “use the Senator’s strong stances on LGBT youth rights to incite hate against the entire LGBT community.” 

Reuters also said that another digitally altered picture showed this:

Unfortunately, this one incident is indicative of what's happening on social media, but mostly on Twitter in general. This is what the LGBTQ community has to deal with now. It's not just far-right groups with huge budgets. It's also idiotic nobodies looking to gain social media influence by spreading hateful narratives about us. 

Elon Musk and Twitter has opened the door to a cottage industry of greedy homophobes hoping to monetize bigotry and sad losers deceiving themselves into thinking that their lives have value by being child defenders. Both groups are scapegoating LGBTQ people as pedophiles, and they don't care if they have to lie to do it just as long as they get their clout.

For LGBTQ people, it's like being trapped in a long-awaited sequel to a horror movie.  

Anita Bryant on Steroids, maybe.