Libs of TikTok - "Help! Drag queens are grooming kids to like math! Oh the horrors!"

The tweet below from my friend Zack Ford (Press Secretary for The Alliance of Justice)  illustrates the basic inanity of the anti-LGBTQ site Libs of TikTok. When your business model is creating rage generated by lies that LGBTQ people are sexually grooming kids, you become desperate in finding new items to exploit. Thusly you end up looking like a desperate fool.

Every once in a while I check in and it's clear this account cares nothing about accuracy.

1. The school's in Canada
2. The drag queen spoke to the GSA — the queer students!
3. @onlinekyne literally has a channel where she teaches mathematics. She literally encourages learning! pic.twitter.com/pDmOS0xITM

— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) July 21, 2022

'LGBTQ people, keep voting against anyone who votes against you' & other Thur midday news briefs

Column: LGBTQ people, keep voting against anyone who votes against you - PREACH!!

Schumer says he wants to bring same-sex marriage bill up for Senate vote - We'll see. 

Josh Hawley comes out against landmark Obergefell ruling as Senate considers marriage equality bill​ - Surprising no one. 

Republican war on queer comic books is dystopian and cruel - It's a part of their general war on everything we do and who we are. 

Catholic hospital chain escalates church war on LGBTQ+ workers - We TOLD you this was not about just bakeries or weddings.

Far-right distorts Dr. Rachel Levine's comments to claim she wants trans children to have 'sex reassignment surgery'

The far-right is attacking Dr. Rachel Levine (again)

Members of the anti-LGBTQ industry are twisting the words of Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine to claim that she is wanting children to harm themselves. Levine is the first trans person confirmed by the Senate to a federal post. Unfortunately a liability of this is that she is a target of every bigot and clout chaser spreading the lie that gender-affirming care is harmful to children. Recently they have been sharing 18 seconds of statements she made to MSNBC about allowing trans children to have gender-affirming care, while adding their own distorted spin: 

Biden’s Assistant Health Secretary: We want to “empower” children to go through sex reassignment surgery. pic.twitter.com/mALheDa5Ys

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) July 18, 2022

As you can see, she did not say anything about children having "sex reassignment surgery."

And this guy is not the only one distorting what she said, as various right-wing headlines show:

No Seriously, They Really Are After Your Kids

 SICK: Biden’s Transgender Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Levine Says We Need to “Empower” Children to go On Puberty Blockers (VIDEO) 

VIDEO: Levine: We need to “empower” kids to go on puberty blockers and get sex reassignment surgery 

 The point is gender-affirming care for trans youth is a complex issue and it doesn't necessary always involve puberty blockers and it certainly doesn't involve far-right fear mongering about "sex reassignment surgery." 

There are numerous credible articles and resources out there which give an accurate view of gender-affirming care for trans youth and how this care actually saves their lives. It's not hard to find.

But the far-right fanatics don't want you to see any of it. They don't want you to even know any of it exists.

Just as in present cases of them accusing LGBTQ people of 'grooming' kids, far-right bigots and clout chasers aren't interested in educating about what's really going because they get more prominence and money from scaring people. They want to conjure anger and exploit general emotion by creating images of children being harmed, whether it be being sexually exploited or supposedly tricked or forced into make decisions about their bodies they will supposedly regret.

None of it is true but as long as they bombard the media with this mess, they think that the truth won't matter.

'Gender-affirming care improves mental health' & other Wed midday news briefs

Gender-Affirming Care Improves Mental Health—and May Save Lives - Repeat it for the folks in the back (again) 

Congress is debating marriage equality & LGBTQ legislators aren’t pulling any punches​ - The speeches from LGBTQ Congressional leaders prove that representation matters. 

Twitter Refuses to Remove Hateful Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Tweets - Simply a hot mess. 

Homophobia, harassment, and anti-mask tantrums: Meet OAN’s latest personality - Great, we got another one. Our media seems to breed them.

The House gives bipartisan approval to protect same-sex marriage. Openly gay Congressman gives definitive reason on why bill is needed.

By a vote of 267 - 157, the House of Representatives voted to codify same-sex marriage and interracial marriage into law. The need to do so came after the SCOTUS decision earlier this month which overturned Roe V Wade. In writing for that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that the court should revisit - i.e. - change its earlier decisions on several cases, including Obergefell vs. Hodges which legalized same-sex marriage. 

Conveniently (he's in an interracial marriage), Thomas didn't mention revisiting the SCOTUS decision which legalized interracial marriage.

Now the bill goes to the Senate where we will have to see what happens. What's interesting about the House vote is the fact while all of the no votes came from Republicans, 47 other Republicans voted for the bill, which makes it bipartisan. This underscores the fact Americans support same-sex marriage by a large number.

The speech of the hour should go to openly gay Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI). As seen in the above video, it only took him 57 seconds break down why marriage is important to LGBTQ people. It's something we should remind folks of every opportunity we get.

'White supremacists who destroyed a Pride mural get caught by their own video' & other Tue midday news briefs

White supremacists destroyed a Pride mural. The video they made got them arrested. - Stupid white supremacists. That's a narrative I will never get tired of. 

Penguin Random House erects billboards displaying work from LGBTQ writers in response to recent book bans - Good for them! 

2022 is already a record year for state bills seeking to curtail LGBTQ rights, ACLU data shows - The fight for equality isn't supposed to be easy, but damn! '

Those people': French minister's LGBTQ remarks spark anger - The funny part of the entire thing? She was trying to defend herself from charges of being prejudiced. That certainly didn't work out.

Conservative columnist exploiting monkeypox to stigmatize LGBTQ community

They simply cannot help themselves. 

From The Advocate:

A conservative columnist is being taken to task for a stigmatizing tweet about monkeypox vaccines. Bethany S. Mandel, who has spoken out against COVID-19 mask mandates and other public health measures, tweeted Monday about people lined up for the MPV vaccine in Brooklyn, N.Y., saying the virus is transmitted only by “sex with strangers.” 

That’s not true. The following is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “The virus can spread from person-to-person through: direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or body fluids; respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact, or during intimate physical contact, such as kissing, cuddling, or sex; touching items (such as clothing or linens) that previously touched the infectious rash or body fluids; pregnant people can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta.”

The article also said

The current outbreak, which has resulted in 1,814 confirmed U.S. cases by the CDC’s latest count, has been concentrated among men who have sex with men, but public health authorities have stressed that MPV does not discriminate. “Infectious disease knows no boundaries,” Dr. Raj Panjabi, senior director for global health security at the White House, told The Advocate recently, noting that there should be no stigma attached to the virus.

 Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, made a similar point in an Advocate interview. “Unfortunately, the virus hit the social network of gay men first, but it will not stay confined to gay men if it spreads,” he said. “Anyone can get it, and anyone can get monkeypox through skin contact with sores, touching objects, and by respiratory. The virus does not discriminate and doesn’t care how or whose body it enters.”

Many in the LGBTQ community have pointed out how certain people and groups are attempting to exploit monkeypox to stigmatize our community in the same manner which happened during the AIDS crisis. Bethany Mandel seems to be doing her best to justify those fears. I doubt she will be the only one. And if others show themselves, they will get handled like she did in the thread.