Someone called me a groomer today.
If you've been keeping up with things, you would know that conservatives and others on the right are using the word 'groomer' to imply that gays are pedophiles. It's no different than when they used to say that we 'recruit' children.
Before deciding whether or not to respond, I took a moment to think about what being called a 'groomer' meant. I thought about how when I was younger, it would have deeply hurt my feelings.
How it would have reminded me about how alone I felt and how society despised who I was.
How it would have reinforced the notion that my life had been decided for me by people who wanted to box me up in accordance to their beliefs and prejudices. People who didn't care about my worth because the only thing they knew was that I was gay and therefore to them, I was a less than; a diseased, pitiful sinner trying to go after their children and infect everyone with AIDS.
And how I was probably doomed to a sad life filled with misery, loneliness, and self-hatred because of all of the hate thrown at me.
All in all, it was the saddest five seconds of my life.
That is before I said f@ck it and responded back with an immature but very satisfying comeback:
I'm in no mood to apologize, capitulate, or play nice with anyone trying to take away the rights and peace of mind I've earned. And neither should you. Whether it be on Twitter or when it comes to legislation designed to take us down, we shouldn't sit back and allow things to be taken from us. No matter what you hear, always remember that you have a voice and an ability to fight.
Use them, albeit not being as petty as I was.
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| Florida Gov Ron DeSantis misled people about an incident he claimed was a reason for the 'Don't Say Gay' bill. |
And here we go again with a scenario so old that I can recite it with my eyes closed.
An alleged incident takes place which puts LGBTQ people in an awful light. The religious right and its allies amplify the incident in the media, Twitter, etc. and that causes LGBTQ people to play defense. After all of the hoopla and the controversy, we discover that said incident was A. not as drastic as the religious right and its allies portrayed it or B. extensively distorted. And when the truth comes out, it's ignored because folks are too exhausted to care.
For this particular episode of the scenario, I present Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his reasoning behind the state's 'Don't Say Gay' bill he recently signed into law.
From CNN:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly pointed to the case of a family in the state's Leon County to explain the need for a controversial new law, dubbed by critics the "Don't Say Gay" bill, that bans schools from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity, particularly to young children.
On several occasions since signing the bill into law, DeSantis has highlighted the story of a woman named January Littlejohn, a registered Republican, who says she was not fully consulted about the school's gender-affirming plan for her child.
"We had a mother from Leon County, and her daughter was going to school and some people in the school had decided that the daughter was really a boy and not a girl. So they changed the girl's name to a boy's name, had her dress like a boy and on doing all this stuff, without telling the mother or getting consent from the mother. First of all, they shouldn't be doing that at all. But to do these things behind the parents' back and to say that the parents should be shut out. That is wrong," DeSantis said during a news conference in Jasper, Florida, on Tuesday.
CNN obtained emails that show Littlejohn wrote the school in 2020 and notified a teacher that her child wanted to change pronouns. Contrary to the governor's portrayal of the story, Littlejohn also wrote that she would not stop her child from using preferred pronouns or name of choice at school. Littlejohn references these emails in her lawsuit against the school and they were reported by the Tallahassee Democrat in November.. . In an August 27, 2020, email to a teacher, Littlejohn stated, in part, "This has been an incredibly difficult situation for our family and her father and I are trying to be as supportive as we can. She is currently identifying as non-binary. She would like to go by the new name [redacted] and prefers the pronouns they/them. We have not changed her name at home yet, but I told her if she wants to go by the name [redacted] with her teachers, I won't stop her."The teacher thanked Littlejohn and asked if she should share with other teachers. Littlejohn explained it was difficult and confusing, and went on to write, "Whatever you think is best or [redacted] can handle it herself." In another email the same day, Littlejohn told the teacher, "This gender situation has thrown us for a loop. I sincerely appreciate your support. I'm going to let her take the lead on this."
"From the moment Mrs. Littlejohn first emailed her child's teacher to inform our staff of the situation, this has been handled together in partnership with clear communication. We understand that outside entities have now become involved, but the family clearly instructed the school staff via email to allow their child to 'take the lead on this' and to do 'whatever you think is the best,' " Chris Petley, Leon County Schools communications coordinator, said in a statement to CNN.
All of these accusations of pedophilia against Disney by Florida governor Ron DeSantis, Fox News, and the rest of the loony right are dangerous on so many levels. Especially how it encourages copycat behavior like below, courtesy of Right Wing Watch:
"Do you see Minnie (Mouse) in a dress?" asks Oklahoma GOP state senate candidate Jarrin Jackson. "Or do you see Mickey holding a penis?": "The people at Disney are pedophiles." pic.twitter.com/QTNhVnr4xD
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 5, 2022
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| Tyler O'Neil, the Fox News editor covering LGBTQ issues has a HUGE anti-LGBTQ bias. |
I love me some Randy Rainbow. As everyone reading this blog knows, I focus on anti-LGBTQ lies and smears. But what you don't know is how taxing it gets to post things like that on a daily basis. It gets depressing so much that sometimes you feel your spirit rotting. Then someone like Randy Rainbow comes along and gives me something to smile about. He calls out the liars in a hilarious manner while simultaneously reminding folks to not allow the hatred and lies get to them. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate that. And how I appreciate the below video of him taking Florida governor Ron DeSantis to task for that awful 'Don't Say Gay' bill.
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| The first half of the 2022 GLAAD Awards were held Saturday night. |
So now in defense of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law, folks are labeling LGBTQ people as 'groomers' who are targeting children for sex talk. It's an ugly claim, but it's hardly new. In fact the most potent weapon in the arsenal of the anti-LGBTQ industry for decades has been the accusation that gays are 'indoctrinating children,' 'recruiting children,' or (as it is spoken now) 'grooming children.'
It's powerful because it touches on the most primal fear of parents - that their children are going to be harmed. That fear coupled with the continued ignorance about LGBTQ lives and our families (some people aren't even aware that we are raising children) becomes a powerful weapon which can be used to undermine our equality time and time again.
Below are just a few examples of conservatives and religious right playing the 'gays want your children' card over the years. Some go as far back as the mid 1980s
Media Matters breaks down how the right is reframing the old lie that LGBTQ people are trying to 'recruit' children. Only now, they say we are 'grooming' children. The entire piece deserves a read but below is an excerpt.
It has been 45 years since voters in Dade County, Florida, voted to strip nondiscrimination protections from LGBTQ people after a campaign by singer Anita Bryant called “Save our Children,” yet the myth that LGBTQ people put children in danger has pervaded since then, with a frightening recent escalation. Right-wing media are intensifying a years-long push to falsely accuse LGBTQ people – along with major corporations like Disney that oppose Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill – of “grooming” children to be gay or trans, or promoting sexual activity.While accusations that the public existence of LGBTQ people somehow poses a sexual threat to minors have a long and ugly history, the recent wave of attacks reached a fever pitch with the passage of HB 1557, the “Don’t Say Gay” or trans bill in Florida. The bill bans discussion of sexuality or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, though its vague wording could be used to prevent such discussions at any grade level. DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw tweeted on March 4 that “the bill that liberals inaccurately call ‘Don’t Say Gay’ would be more accurately described as an Anti-Grooming Bill,” going on to accuse opponents of grooming 4- to 8-year-olds:
. . . right-wing media promptly took Pushaw’s messaging advice. The next day, a headline in The Post Millennial proclaimed that “Florida's anti-groomer law protects kids and parents from activist educators.” On March 9, the chyron on Fox News’ The Ingraham Hour falsely stated that “Liberals are sexually grooming elementary students.”. . .And after a leaked video surfaced in which a Disney executive talked about having more LGBTQ storylines in the company’s material, right-wing media figures on Fox and elsewhere all jumped on the argument that this represented the grooming of children for sexual activity; Carlson even claimed that Disney was acting like a “sex offender.”. . .The language these media figures and outlets are using to attack LGBTQ people and conflate them with dangerous pedophiles matches the rhetoric used nearly five decades ago in Bryant’s Save Our Children campaign, a six-month tour of hate that led voters in Dade County to repeal one of the first ordinances in the country that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bryant claimed, falsely, that gays and lesbians were “trying to recruit our children into homosexuality.” As Zack Ford wrote in Xtra, “The nefarious tropes of the 1970s and ’80s never actually went away.” .
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| TX Governor Greg Abbott attacks trans kids and their families while there are sex scandals in the state's troubled foster care system. |
There is a huge foster care scandal happening right now in Texas. It's significant on its own, but reaches a higher level of concern when one takes into account the recent attacks the state is inflicting upon the LGBTQ community, particularly trans kids and their affirming parents. Tx Governor Greg Abbott is attempting to remove trans kids from the households of affirming parents by falsely declaring trans healthcare as child abuse. But based upon what's been going on, the actual abuse is happening in Texas foster care facilities.
From the Austin-American Statesman:
A federal judge, expressing disappointment with Texas law enforcement, is now seeking a federal investigation into allegations of child pornography at a Bastrop County foster care facility for victims of sex trafficking. During a virtual court hearing Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack raised concerns about the allegations, which involve staff at the Refuge Ranch residential facility for minors. Court monitors, who are tasked with overseeing the improvements in the Texas foster care system, this week said they found holes in the investigation undertaken by Texas Rangers into the allegations.Earlier this month, the Department of Family and Protective Services had alerted the court monitors of an urgent situation concerning the safety of children at the Refuge. The department reported that it had received several reports since Jan. 24 to the statewide intake hotline alleging sexual and physical abuse; sexual exploitation; neglectful supervision; and medical neglect at the facility.
The Refuge promptly notified the sheriff’s office about the photograph seller and its investigation is ongoing. But after the shelter’s problems were publicized in a March 10 filing and hearing in the class action, sparking widespread media coverage, Governor Greg Abbott ordered an immediate probe by the Texas Rangers.
On March 10, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas Rangers from the Department of Public Safety to investigate the trafficking allegations at the Refuge. The facility has been temporarily closed. Less than a week later, the Texas Rangers’ investigation said that initial allegations of sex trafficking were inaccurate, but that allegations of nude photography of teenage girls were still under investigation. In a letter to Abbott, DPS Director Steven McCraw wrote that Texas Rangers found "there was no evidence that any of the residents at the Refuge shelter have ever been sexually abused or trafficked while at the shelter."
Court-appointed watchdogs of Texas’ troubled foster care system found "ample evidence" that former sex trafficking victims were abused at a foster care facility, contradicting the Texas Rangers’ findings earlier this month. After reviewing thousands of documents and recordings, the monitors said in a court filing Monday there is evidence to substantiate allegations of child sex abuse, exploitation, neglectful supervision and physical abuse at The Refuge Ranch in Bastrop.The monitors also called a letter from Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw to Gov. Greg Abbott, which said there was no evidence kids at the shelter were sexually abused or trafficked, “was, at best, premature.”
More than a decade into an ongoing lawsuit surrounding the state's troubled foster care system, U.S. District Judge Janis Jack was angry when she asked the state if they have a system to keep track of where foster children are and the head of the agency said they don't. When Jack asked Department of Family and Protective Services Commissioner Jaime Masters for an update on the system, Masters said IT is still working on it."Oh, for God's sake. I just don't understand this incompetence ... You don't know where the children are," Jack said. "Now we know today, 11 years into this lawsuit, that no one knows where these children are placed. I'm just - I'm speechless. You are the parent. I don't want to hear that IT is still working on it."Several minutes later, Masters received an update that IT would go live with the system in July. "Sorry I acted so angry," Jack said. "It's actually because I am angry."
Three experts were hired by the state in response to a federal lawsuit. They explained in a Tuesday hearing that the state needs to avoid placing children in group homes and needs to stop sending children without placements out of the state. U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack made it clear she is not happy with how the state is handling children without family placements. "Texas, in spite of 11 years of litigation, was not prepared for closing all these unsafe GROs and thrust all these children into hotels motels and offices," she said.
No matter how Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and his supporters attempt to spin the 'Don't Say Gay' bill as something to protect children, reality smacks them in the face.
And on Tuesday, that reality came in the form - of all people - Franklin Graham:
In fact, he has.
In 2014, Graham praised Putin for signing a somewhat harsher law in Russia. The bill, passed in 2013, criminalized all positive LGBTQ speech and advocacy:
“In my opinion, Putin is right on these issues,” Graham writes. “Obviously, he may be wrong about many things, but he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda.” “Our president and his attorney general have turned their backs on God and His standards, and many in the Congress are following the administration’s lead. This is shameful.” With the caveat that “I am not endorsing President Putin,” Graham nonetheless praised Russia’s get-tough approach toward gay rights. “Isn’t it sad, though, that America’s own morality has fallen so far that on this issue — protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda — Russia’s standard is higher than our own?”
I have met the president on several occasions. He’s a very nice person. But he supports and promotes policies that contradict the teachings of God. As a Christian I believe that abortion is murder, he supports it. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage — those are sins against God, and the president is promoting them. I’m not against homosexuals as people. But God commanded that marriage should be between a man and a woman. And I very much appreciate that President Putin is protecting Russian young people against homosexual propaganda. If only to give them the opportunity to grow up and make a decision for themselves. Again, homosexuals cannot have children, they can take other people’s children. I believe that President Obama (and I’ll repeat, he’s a very nice person) is leading America down the wrong road. He’s taking a stand against God.
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| President Biden |
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| Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hands out pens to children after signing the state's 'Don't Say Gay' bill into law. |
DeSantis is exploiting same delusionary mindset that Donald Trump has about the 2020 election, i.e. that he is on the side of good fighting evil and corruption. The fantasy would be amusing except for the reality it obscures. The 'Don't Say Gay' bill is a fraud. It attacks a 'problem' which doesn't exists. It exploits a fear which shouldn't exist. It scapegoats an innocent group of people, which includes children. And its benefits are also nonexistent.
The only thing which exists right now is the fact that DeSantis eagerly exploited children in his attack on LGBTQ kids and families. The bill was unnecessary. The photo op was simply evil.
And the most tragic thing is that it's all performance. DeSantis is a very calculating politician. He knows that his bill is red meat to feed the GOP base and get him closer to the White House. In the long run DeSantis doesn't care about protecting children; not LGBTQ kids and certainly not the kids he enlisted in his photo op.
Ron DeSantis only cares about Ron DeSantis and he has no problem building a road to the White House paved with the the bodies, wrecked self-esteem, and spiritual ruination of LGBTQ people. But now, he has invited children to help him pave that road.
Americans should be more concerned with what DeSantis is teaching our kids. He seems to be the one doing the indoctrination.
UPDATE - and what's more, the signing was rushed. So much for fanfare. Cowardice seems to be the order of the day for DeSantis.
