Hat tip to Ari Drennen.@BeccaBalintVT: "whenever we make progress, we see the backlash...it was really lovely to watch this amazing ally in Tennessee speaking up for the members of her community. That gave me so much hope because that's what it's gonna take." pic.twitter.com/ymoOjaqqeL
— Ari Drennen 🏹 (@AriDrennen) October 31, 2022
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| Matt Walsh |
Earlier this month my state, South Carolina, hosted its annual Pride event in the capital city of Columbia. I went and had a good time. My goal was to take some pictures to post, but I got lazy.
Unfortunately, someone else did take pictures and videos (Editor's note - some of what you are about to see will probably scare you):
Libs of TikTok targeted SC Pride.
For those who don't know, Libs of TikTok is a Twitter address run by a woman named Chaya Raichik and supposedly its goal is to save children from being "sexually groomed." Unfortunately, Miss Thing has the idea that LGBTQ people are the ones "grooming" kids (we are all she focuses on). Via videos and pictures taken out context and posted on her Twitter address, Raichik has built up a loyal following of bigots, homophobes, transphobes, and all-around pathetic individuals who have nothing going on in their lives so they immerse themselves in the pathetically sad delusion of "saving children."
You know, trash. You can see that plainly in the comments from her followers under the pictures and videos she posted. They are the ones spinning morbid fantasies of killing LGBTQ people.
Raichik through Libs of TikTok has gotten a reputation with her lies. She's gotten teachers fired, was a figure in the development and pushing of Florida governor Ron DeSantis's 'Don't Say Gay' law, and even caused bomb threats against children's hospitals by spreading the false story that they were giving trans kids hysterectomies.
She must be slumming to if she felt the need to slither down to my state and cause trouble. As I said before, I attended Pride and I saw nothing X-rated or out of the ordinary. Raichik implies misbehavior and allows the mindset of her readership to fill in the blanks even when there are no blanks. No matter how much they may deny it, her audience's anger doesn't come from anything being done in the pictures or videos. It's about who the participants are. A child and a drag queen. A child and LGBTQ culture.
You see, Raichik is successful because of who she attracts. I'm sorry, what she attracts. One part of her audience are hardcore bigots who live for screaming the "f-word" at folks. Then there is the other part, who don't see themselves as homophobes. We know the type, i.e. the ones who say things like "I don't have a problem with gays but . ." or "Hey to each his own as long as . . ."
That type isn't saying that they don't have a problem with LGBTQ people. They are implying that they need something to fill in the blank so they don't have to own their internal bigotry.
It's similar to when Obama became president in 2008. Amid the celebrations was a little unspoken discomfort amongst some white Americans. A black man in the White House was a new dynamic and they were fearful of the unknown. They weren't open about it because they also feared being labeled as racist.
Pretty soon, conservative entities like Fox News began to fill in the blanks by outlining and highlighting problems with Obama's character. The problems were mostly manufactured, but they gave these uncomfortable people excuses to dislike Obama. They were able to transform their fear of the unknown into seemingly genuine reasons to dislike Obama such as:
He doesn't put his hand over his heart when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited.
He is so conceited. We know this by the number of times he says the letter "I" in his speeches.
He's not a genuine America.
He wants to make America like Russia
He puts mustard on his hamburger
He wore a tan suit
No matter how ludicrous the excuses were, folks clung to them as if they were truth.
In that same manner, Raichik and her site gives people an excuse to hate and fear us. What she posts is generally nothing to be alarmed about. She deliberately mischaracterizes much of what she posts and then feeds off her audience's fear after she gives them a reason to dislike the LGBTQ community
They can say things like:
"I don't have a problem with gay people, but why do they have to bring children in it?"
"To each his own, but I draw the line when they go after children. Let kids be kids, They shouldn't have to deal with stuff like sexual orientation and gender."
To these people, a drag queen reading to kids is dangerous because a child may become "exposed" to LGBTQ people and want to be one. That's rather stupid because when I was a child, someone read to me while dressed as Superman. I didn't try to fly. I knew it was make believe. On that same note, my first grade teacher used to read Bible stories to my class and I certainly never felt the inclination to put on her girdle.
To these people, a child giving money to a drag queen performing a dance and lip sync routine is part of a secret plot to "groom kids" to . . . I don't know. Want to be Beyonce, put on make-up, perform intricate dance routines, . . .it really doesn't make sense when you give it some thought.
To them, any interaction between an LGBTQ person and a child is a no-no because us LGBTQ people have nothing going on in our lives other than sex. Any and everything we do is centered around having or getting sex. That includes paying bills, cooking, cleaning, going to church etc. etc. It's all about sex and if kids hang around us, they are going to catch the "sex, sex, sex virus" from us.
To these people, children and any part of the LGBTQ culture - however innocent - should never mix. They have this adult-oriented image of the LGBTQ community and how dare we interrupt their illusions with reality.
Raichik profits from their dishonesty.
She reminds me of characters from books I read as a child. Only they weren't using social media. They were too busy making gingerbread houses.
Hat tip to Ari Drennen
I don't think anyone can honestly say when right-wing attack on drag queens and other facets of our community via Libs of TikTok and other sources began. But I am going to go off on a limb and make two observations.
1. That this was planned.
2. It was leading to something.
And that something is an attempt to push a national version of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law. I've blogged about it before, but it's very crucial that the LGBTQ community learn more about it and prepare ourselves to fight it because it's coming in one form or another. Folks have pointed out that even if the bill can get out of Congress, Biden would veto it.
That may be, but Biden can't veto statewide forms of the bill. In the meantime, these videos courtesy of MSNBC gives a good breakdown of what LGBTQ Americans will probably be facing in the future
