Josh Hawley (R-MO) falsely accused Jackson of giving child pornographers unusually lenient sentences and “soft” treatment, other conservatives, like Rep. During the same period, numerous Fox pundits began describing the behavior of parents and teachers who want to allow children to express their transgender identity as grooming one Fox and Friends guest suggested children were “being ripened for grooming for sexual abuse by adults,” while America Reports guest Charlie Hurt said affirmative care for trans children “goes beyond just predatory grooming” into “psychological torture.”Īccusations of pedophilia were also a refrain during the March 2022 confirmation hearings for new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Fox News has run several segments devoted to pedophilia throughout March and April. This rhetoric has long existed among fringe conspiracy-theory-mongers and extremists, but Pushaw’s usage helped turn grooming into a mainstream conservative talking point. Pushaw adopted language that QAnon conspiracy theory believers and the related #SaveTheChildren crusaders have used to imply that liberals are, if not pedophiles themselves, advocates of pedophilia. Ron DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw described it as “the Anti-Grooming Bill” in early March, tweeting that if you’re against it, “you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-8 year old children.” Those familiar with QAnon will recognize this bizarre leap in logic.
Following the recent passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and a wave of other homophobic and transphobic legislation throughout the country, current right-wing rhetoric has focused on accusations of “grooming.” The term - which describes the actions an adult takes to make a child vulnerable to sexual abuse - is taking on a conspiracy-theory tone as conservatives use it to imply that the LGBTQ community, their allies, and liberals more generally are pedophiles or pedophile-enablers.Īttempting to reframe the controversial Florida law, Gov. And once you're done here, head on over to the GH Book Club to check out even more feel-good reads.A renewed moral panic, stoked by the far right and trickling into mainstream conservatism, has come on the heels of an abrupt shift in the fight for gay rights in America. Add them all to your own tbr list or pick up a few as the perfect gift for the book-lover in your life. We've got something for fans of thrillers and crime, romance novels, humor, standby classics, new releases and of course, literary fiction and memoir. And just like the rest of the literary canon, LGBTQ+ books come in all genres. All of us deserve to see our lived experiences reflected in the stories we love, and that's especially important for young people or those who can't express the fullness of their identity in their everyday lives. These books by gay authors and LGBTQ+ writers, as well as fantastic reads with characters who identify as part of the rainbow of identities the acronym encompasses, show us that our literary worlds can (and should!) be as beautifully diverse as the one we live in.
But this increased visibility during Pride month shouldn't be a one-month thing - it's an opportunity to expand the diversity of our media consumption all year long. For 30 days, every product from T-shirts to bagels come in a rainbow motif in a nod toward supporting (and earning money from) the LGBTQ+ community. During Pride month every June, a lot of attention turns to LGBTQ+ culture, including its artists, creators and authors.