LGBTQ+ folks have always had to deal with hate, discrimination, and violence in the United States, but it’s no surprise to see people feel even more emboldened in their heinous views with Republicans essentially running on anti-queer platforms just in time for midterm elections. As my colleague Rebekah Sager recently covered, Rev. Mark Burns lost his congressional race in South Carolina, but he decided to go out with a proverbial bang and suggest killing LGBTQ+ people. Lovely!
Burns lost (thankfully), but he isn’t alone in spewing violent rhetoric. For example, as covered over at LGBTQ Nation, Brother Tanner Furrh of the Stedfast Baptist Church (which the Southern Poverty Law Center categorizes as a hate group) in Hurst, Texas, recently called for lesbians specifically to be put to death, describing them as “sick and gross” per the Bible and that getting a “bullet in their head is too nice.”
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Furrh took care to say that gay men are not the only problem, but gay women, too, and that all “lesbos,” d-kes, and butch d-kes “deserve the death penalty” and should be “punished with death by the government.”
“You know, the Bible said to stone ’em with stones,” Furrh continued. “That’s a little bit harsher of a punishment. That punishment lasts a little bit longer than a bullet to the head. That’s the easy way out, honestly.”
Here is a video clip of that sermon.
As well as his little “apology” on YouTube.
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As a gay woman myself, reporting on stories like these is never easy. It is, frankly, disheartening, sobering, and frightening. I hate to give hate attention, but in the same way, it feels like a disservice to not educate people on what folks are spewing to their fan base. It would be nice if we could dismiss hate as existing only on the fringe, but when we consider the rhetoric coming from our elected officials and those running for office, it’s clearly not only extremists who are using LGBTQ+ people (and our rights) as pawns for political points.
Here at Daily Kos, we’ve continued to cover the ongoing demonization of LGBTQ+ people—specifically trans people. Conservatives have been strategic in framing anti-queer issues around girls' sports, gender-affirming health care, birth certificates, and bathroom access. All this is configured around making trans folks seem dangerous and conniving when in fact, of course, they are simply people who want and deserve the right to exist as themselves.
Before long, conservatives watched moderates and even some Democrats shrug their shoulders at anti-trans hysteria. They then found it all too easy to amp up even more bold hate in terms of Don’t Say Gay laws and book bans. It’s never really been about trans girls playing kindergarten sports. It’s always been about rolling back rights and protections and making a structurally marginalized group even more vulnerable. As allies and advocates, we must call out hate even when it’s clearly over the top and outrageous (like Furrh here) and when it’s disguised as well-intentioned parental rights. It’s all the same thing: Hate.