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| Photo Credit: AP. |
A research reveals that online based hate against gays, lesbians and other LGBTQ people surged following passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law in the state.
The law bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
Pedophiles and "grooming"
References
to pedophiles and “grooming” rose by more than 400 percent in the month after
Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” measure was approved, The Associated Press cited a
report released Wednesday by the Human Rights Campaign, one of the largest
LGBTQ advocacy groups in the United States, and the Center for Countering
Digital Hate, a nonprofit group that tracks online extremism.
On March 8,
Florida Legislators passed the legislation which was accented to by Republican
Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 28, according to The Associated Press. The law
prohibits school teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual
orientation with their young students.
500 most viewed tweets related to "grooming" viewed over 72 million times
The report
found that the 500 most viewed tweets that mentioned “grooming” were viewed
more than 72 million times between January and July.
Some of the increase is driven by influential conservatives through their own posts or liking or forwarding posts from others. U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert, (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R-Ga.) and DeSantis’ press secretary, Christiana Pushaw is among top influencers, according to the report.
Criticism against Florida anti-grooming law pedophilia - Pushaw
In a social media post in March, Pushaw compared
criticism of the bill to pedophilia.
“If you’re
against the Anti-Grooming Bill, you are probably a groomer or at least you
don’t denounce the grooming,” Pushaw wrote on Twitter.
Responding
to the report, Pushaw said the Human Rights Campaign and other critics of
Florida’s new law are the ones linking it to LGBTQ people, adding she never
mentioned LGBTQ.
“There are
groomers of all sexual orientations and gender identities. My tweets did not
mention LGBTQ people at all,” she wrote in an emailed statement, according to
The Associated Press.
“Online hate and lies reflect and reinforce
offline violence and hate,” said Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering
Digital Hate, who said social media platforms should do more to enforce their own
policies on hate speech, according to The Associated Press. “The normalization
of anti-LGBTQ+ narratives in digital spaces puts LGBTQ+ people in danger.”