The right-wing resurrected 1970s trope as part of its renewed campaign against LGBTQ people. But one big difference seems to be that while citrus bigot Anita Bryant’s crusade largely kept its focus on gay people who were simply seeking employment and housing protections, today’s bigots seem to be sparing no one—and I mean no one—from their gross slurs.
Example: Right-wing figures have claimed that Elmo, the Sesame Street Muppet beloved by children for decades, is a groomer. Now, to be clear, Elmo is not real. Without knowing the exact mechanics, Elmo physically moves because of a human operator or two. But that didn’t stop a host with the right-wing BlazeTV from calling the puppet a “groomer” for getting a COVID-19 vaccine as part of a public health announcement. Because conservatives also love making up with scenarios that no one’s actually proposed, the host also wondered aloud if Elmo was “going to get a vasectomy” next. The right hurled the groomer slur at other non-living entities too, Media Matters found.
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One target was the U.S. budget, Media Matters said. “The groomer slur reached such prevalence that it became a go-to smear for Democratic policies and agendas. In an extreme example, The Blaze’s Daniel Horowitz claimed that Democrats were promoting ‘grooming throughout the federal budget and international relations budget.’ Horowitz did not elaborate.” Well, it can be hard to elaborate on bullshit claims.
Pizza Hut got a dual whammy of right-wing talking points, accused of grooming and wokeness for a book program the restaurant has had in place since the 1980’s. Anti-gay group American Family Association accused it of “absolute filth” for featuring an inclusive children’s book during LGBTQ Pride Month last year, and claimed the chain was seeking to “indoctrinate children into transgenderism and homosexuality.” Ma’am, I’m just trying to get a slice of pizza.
Of course, we already knew that pizza places have been at the center of the most unreal but dangerous conspiracy theories. Books are not the danger, but it’s the books that keep getting banned by fascistic Americans.
The right has even managed to turn the groomer slur on itself. “After Fox News ran a positive segment with a trans teenager, anti-trans activists and other right-wing media members lost their minds—most notably Terry Schilling,” Media Matters said. “Schilling told OAN he ‘felt really betrayed’ by Fox News for participating in what host Chanel Rion called a ‘concerted effort to normalize the transgender agenda in conservative circles.’”
Warning, this next part is really disturbing. “Schilling then expressed doubt about whether Fox News shared his deep concern with children’s ability to orgasm,” the report continued. “Fox, for its part, remains deeply committed to their anti-trans ethos.” Fact check: true. The network marked last year’s LGBTQ Pride Month by attacking transgender people across several different programs. In one genocidal remark made on The Ingraham Angle, a guest “expressed opposition to the existence of trans children,” Media Matters had said.
Fox News later ran a promo purporting to celebrate the “incredible contributions” of LGBTQ people. Just some truly brazen shit, considering that earlier in the year the outlet had also aired some 170 transphobic segments in the span of three weeks alone.
Read Media Matters’ full report here. Writer and grooming survivor Alisson Wood recently told Daily Kos’ Marissa Higgins that the right’s attacks are not only baseless, they are a disservice to kids. The right attacks “homosexuality because they think becoming gay is the worst thing that could happen to anyone,” Wood said. “And as a queer woman, I can assure you it is not. Minors are in far more danger from heterosexual men than anyone else. Child Protective Services data says that 88% of all perpetrators of sexual harm are men, and 93% are known to the victim.”
We've got a special double-barreled, two-guest show for you on this week's episode of The Downballot! First up is Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United, who discusses her group's efforts to roll back the corrupting effects of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision as we hit the ruling's 13th anniversary. Muller tells us about ECU's short- and long-term plans to enact serious campaign finance reform; how the organization has expanded into the broader voting rights arena in recent years; and research showing the surprising connection many voters drew between the GOP's attacks on democracy and their war against abortion rights.
Then we're joined by law professor Quinn Yeargain to gape slack-jawed at the astonishing setback Gov. Kathy Hochul experienced in the state capitol on Wednesday when a Democratic-led Senate committee rejected her conservative pick to lead New York's top court. Yeargain explains why Hochul's threatened lawsuit to force the legislature to hold a full floor vote on Hector LaSalle defies 250 years of precedent and what will happen if she eventually retreats—as she manifestly should.