Mickey Mouse is NOT holding a penis, my friend

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

So can you see Mickey holding a penis? I don't know and I don't care. I don't make it a practice to look for subliminal sexual images in children's products.  But truth be told, I don't blame this guy for being so ignorantly empowered.

The folks who should be blamed are DeSantis, Fox News, and others who know what power of suggestion they have over some people. And have no problem with perverting it.

'Fox News editor covering LGBTQ issues supports 'ex-gay therapy,' says 'transgender identity is dangerous'' & other Tue midday news briefs

Tyler O'Neil,  the Fox News editor covering LGBTQ issues has a HUGE anti-LGBTQ bias.

Fox News editor covering LGBTQ issues is a conversion therapy proponent who says “transgender identity is dangerous” - LGBTQ people have our work cut out for us when the most popular cable news network is gunning for our equality. This fool is simply another coin in the slot. What's next, Fox? You gonna get David Duke to cover African-American issues? 

‘Lie from hell’: Franklin Graham calls for ‘regime change’ in US - Happy LGBTQ people gives Franklin Graham the vapors. 

Books By Trans And Non-Binary Authors To Read On Transgender Day Of Visibility 2022 - Amen. We need more education on trans and non-binary lives and issues. 

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert Wants an Age Minimum Before People Come Out - Lauren Boebert can go to that hot place that I'm too much of a gentleman to call by name. 

Businesses are speaking out against anti-LGBTQ laws - Good. Get more vocal.

Randy Rainbow has hilarious message for DeSantis and Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill

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.

Stars shine at GLAAD awards, Apple lobbying against anti-LGBTQ bills & other Mon midday news briefs

The first half of the 2022 GLAAD Awards were held Saturday night.

Apple wields its lobbying might against LGBTQ laws - This headline is awful. Apple is lobbying against anti-LGBTQ laws. Nevertheless, things are going to get very interesting in the coming months. 

Kacey Musgraves, Lily Rose Among Winners at 2022 GLAAD Media Awards - Congratulations to the award recipients of the first half of the GLAAD awards. My category - Outstanding Blog - will be announced in May. Fingers crossed.

Florida teachers say they plan on defying the state’s new Don’t Say Gay law​ - This is getting good! 

Ariana Grande pledges to match up to $1.5 million to fight anti-trans bills - Way to go!

Visual montage - Just a few of the times conservatives have accused LGBTQ people of 'indoctrinating,' 'recruiting,' or 'grooming' children

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

The images above were taken from the booklet Deathstyle, a vile anti-LGBTQ comic book.

Check out who endorsed Deathstyle:

I own a copy of  Deathstyle  but you can go here and here to see excerpts from it.

Amplifying that lie that LGBTQ are attempting to 'indoctrinate' or 'groom' children has been the conservative go-to tactic for a number of arguments against LGBTQ rights or as a general fear. Other examples are below:

 

From 'recruiting' to 'grooming' - how the right has continues to smear LGBTQ people as child predators

The old has become new again. And in this case, that is unfortunate for LGBTQ people.

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.” .

'Fox News smears Disney for its opposition to 'Don't Say Gay' bill' & other Thur midday news briefs

Fox News picks up video from CRT alarmist to claim Disney is sexualizing children​ - Yep. It's been a war on Disney led by Fox News ever since the company announced it would work to repeat Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill. 

Cases in point:

Fox News contributor: Disney wants to “sexualize our children” 

Fox contributor defends Florida's “Don't Say Gay” bill, blames “the left” for “sexualizing children” 

One sided pablum by a bunch of propaganda slop artists 

In other news:

Arizona governor signs bills limiting transgender rights, abortion - This madness continues.

Buttigieg Slams Rep. Greene's Taunt to 'Stay Out of Girls' Bathrooms' - Speaking of madness