Thursday, March 30, 2023

Creator of homophobic Libs of TikTok came for AOC in halls of Congress. AOC wasn't having her nonsense.

Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik (left) tried to stunt Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But AOC wasn't having it.

From Mediaite:

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Chaya Raichik of the “Libs of TikTok” Twitter account engaged in a war of words in the Capitol Building on Thursday after the latter filed an ethics complaint against the former. Raichik alleges that Ocasio-Cortez lied about her during a February committee hearing when she said that the political influencer’s advocacy had “culminated in a real-life harassment and bomb threat to the Boston Children’s Hospital.”

 With help from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, Raichik filed an ethics complaint alleging that she broke House rules by doing so, and sought to personally deliver the complaint to Ocasio-Cortez at her office.

 Raichik managed to run into AOC later and the following happened: 

 Raichik explained that she had “just delivered an ethics complaint to your office because you lied about me in a committee hearing.” “Uh-huh. Oh hi! Yeah no, I actually didn’t,” began Ocasio-Cortez as the two tried to speak over each other. “I never inspired a bomb threat,” replied Raichik while Ocasio-Cortez explained that the social media star is “actually super transphobic and I never want to share a space with you!” “Thank you!” she added before walking away briskly. You can see the exchange here:

 

Unfortunately, the Mediaite article failed to add more context. AOC wasn't being untruthful. According to Politifact, Libs of TikTok did  help to spread a false story that Boston Children's Hospital were giving young girls hysterectomies:

A viral tweet falsely claims that a pediatric hospital is offering surgical treatment for transgender children. "Boston Children's Hospital is now offering 'gender-affirming hysterectomies' for young girls," read an Aug. 11 tweet from Libs of TikTok, a conservative Twitter account with more than 1 million followers. 

 . . . Libs of TikTok's tweet included a video of a physician at Boston Children's Hospital discussing gender-affirming hysterectomies — or the removal of the uterus, cervix and fallopian tubes. Nowhere in the 33-second video did the physician suggest that the procedure is offered to children. The notion, however, seemed to rely on the hospital having "children" in its name. 

 . . . Although the Center for Gender Surgery is inside a pediatric hospital, medical treatment is offered only to "eligible adolescents and young adults," the center's website said. The hospital adheres to medical guidelines developed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, or WPATH, which doesn't recommend surgical treatment for children. 

 And this lie did in fact lead to several bomb threats against the hospital. In September, a woman, Catherine Leavy, was arrested for making one of the bomb threats. And during all of this,  Libs of TikTok continued to target the hospital, accusing the physicians of lying and mocking them for complaining about the chaos it was causing.

Raichik's attempt to approach AOC and her complaint is obviously a stunt meant to drive more attention to her demonizing attacks against LGBTQ people. And the organization assisting her, The Heritage Foundation, is known for its constant attempts to undermine LGBTQ people's rights and safety.

And not just in America. 

Earlier this month Delano Squires, a research fellow of  the Heritage Foundation, defended a possibly soon-to-be passed law in Uganda which would jail people simply for identifying as LGBTQ. 

And he defended it using the same tropes Libs of TikTok does to dehumanize LGBTQ people:





 

'Trans Tennesseans fear violent backlash as trans identity blamed for school shooting' & other Thur midday news briefs



Trans Tennesseans fear violent backlash as trans identity blamed for school shooting - Be strong, y'all. A lot of people are on your side. 

The Far Right Is Exploiting the Nashville Tragedy to Promote Transphobia - THIS is what the folks in the above article are having to deal with. 


California May End Travel Ban to States With Anti-LGBTQ Laws - Her idea sounds interesting. Some folks may not agree but I understand she wants to do.