LGBTQ Americans face 'Groomer' Trolling Over GOP Culture War

LAS VEGAS — (04-20-22) — LGBTQ Americans and their allies are being targeted online over the GOP War on the LGBTQ community. With their never ending wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation being pushed through GOP run states at an alarming rate, LGBTQ Americans have been labeled “Groomers”, which is code for a pedophile.

This is nothing new as Republicans used the same tactic back in the 1960s against Gay men claiming that they were hunting for your sons on basketball courts.

With Florida and Alabama’s “Don’t Say Gay” bills being signed into law, LGBTQ hate trolling has amplified the stereotyped and baseless claims that LGBTQ people support child predators.

The top GOP keyword of “Groomers” which the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children defines as when “someone builds a relationship, trust, and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.”

The term has been weaponized by the GOP and their allies online, and it now appears almost constantly on many social media platforms.

Data provided by social media platform Reddit analyzed by Jeremy Blackburn, an assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University in New York who studies online extremism, found a 100 percent increase in the keyword “grooming” in conjunction with various LGBTQ slurs that picked up steam in early March and accelerating in mid-to-late March.

The GOP have said they will continue their campaign against the LGBTQ community during election year 2022.

The rising tide of online abuse by Republicans and their paid trolls is challenging for young LGBTQ Americans, as the internet has become an essential place for them to learn about LGBTQ identities and connect with their peers.

In a survey of LGBTQ kids conducted last year by the Trevor Project, 42 percent of respondents said they had been bullied electronically, including online or via text message. 69 percent reported having access to online spaces that affirmed their sexual orientations and gender identities.

“We know that the debates about LGBTQ people and transgender people and their rights are having a tremendous effect on the mental health and wellbeing of LGBTQ youth because they’re telling us,” said Pick. “They tell us that the debate over trans bills leaves them feeling angry, scared, sad, and depressed. This debate is resonating. It is echoing in ways that are deeply hurtful.” said Pick.