Warning: This story describes anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and ideas that some readers may find offensive.
Earlier this fall, a billboard stood tall above the highway right outside downtown Fort Worth.
Alongside a photo of Beto O鈥橰ourke, the Democratic candidate for governor, the billboard said: 鈥淪TOP GROOMING OUR CHILDREN. VOTE NO TO BETO!鈥�
The word is used to describe the manipulation process a sexual abuser uses to coerce young victims. More recently, some conservatives , as well as conversations about gender and sexuality, with grooming. Those false narratives have permeated Texas elections and the political process nationwide.
The grooming accusations are a new way of packaging an old tale, said Johnathan Gooch, the communications director for the statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy group that LGBTQ+ people are sexual predators.
鈥淚t was popular when people were trying to prevent lesbian and gay couples from adopting children,鈥� Gooch said. 鈥淎nd here we are, 30 years later."
Billboard in bustling Fort Worth. O鈥橰ourke won Tarrant County by 4k votes in 鈥�18 vs. Cruz. He鈥檒l likely need a wider margin here over Abbott to have a shot at winning.
— Zach Despart (@zachdespart)
The anti-O'Rourke billboard in Fort Worth was put up by , a far-right political fund led by former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford. Defend Texas Liberty PAC didn鈥檛 respond to a request for comment. On Stickland鈥檚 , he called the grooming billboard 鈥渙ne of my favorites.鈥�
In a written statement to 四虎影院, O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 campaign promised that as governor, he'd support trans kids and pass a comprehensive nondiscrimination law for LGBTQ+ Texans.
鈥淭exas is big enough for all of us 鈥� no matter who we are or who we love," the statement said.
LGBTQ+ rights have made strides in recent years, and the false grooming narrative feels like a way to push back against that, said Gooch.
"Recently, there's been sort of a type of backlash, where people have taken some really extreme ideas,鈥� Gooch said. 鈥淎nd some of the ideas that started in conspiracy spaces have really become mainstream now."
Fearmongering against LGBTQ+ people statewide
Voters in El Paso also recently received transphobic mailers in Spanish, paid for by the America First Legal Foundation. That organization is led by Stephen Miller, an advisor to former president Donald Trump.
The mailers accused President Joe Biden and Democrats of 鈥渋ndoctrinating鈥� kids and described gender affirming care as dangerous medical experimentation.
Experts with organizations like the and the agree that gender affirming care is safe and necessary to the well-being of trans kids who seek it.
Local elected officials and LGBTQ+ advocates condemned the mailers at a press conference on Tuesday, .
"What we are seeing in our country is an attack on truth, and we are seeing a deep radicalization of American citizens," said U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso.
'It's like the nuclear bomb of disinformation'
Unlike putting up a billboard or sending out mailers, posting online is free.
That makes the internet a dangerous place for anti-LGBTQ+ messages to spread, said Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the nonprofit .
鈥淚t's like the nuclear bomb of rather than the conventional arms race, because you can produce unlimited amounts of hatred from virtually nothing," Ahmed said.
The Center worked with the to produce tracking posts that participated in the false grooming narrative on Twitter. The Center鈥檚 researchers found that the volume of tweets per day using 鈥済roomer鈥� or 鈥減edophile鈥� in relation to LGBTQ+ people spiked by 406% in the month following the passage of that limits discussion of gender and sexuality in schools.
Critics called the measure the 鈥淒on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� bill, while a staffer for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called it
The report also found that among the most-viewed 鈥済谤辞辞尘颈苍驳鈥� tweets, a handful of recognizable names were most responsible for driving the grooming narrative, including Congressional Republicans like of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
鈥淲hat we find is that although a small number of highly motivated bad actors produce the bulk of the content, it's the millions, the hundreds of millions of people that see the content as a result of social media platforms amplifying it, broadcasting it to their enormous audiences, that the problem starts,鈥� Ahmed said.
The report also found that tech companies either failed to act against or profited from the 鈥済谤辞辞尘颈苍驳鈥� narrative, even though that narrative violated the companies鈥� own stated policies. Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, made money off ads promoting the 鈥済谤辞辞尘颈苍驳鈥� narrative, the report states.
The real-world harm of disinformation
Disinformation, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is 鈥渇alse information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.鈥�
in U.S. elections, whether it鈥檚 false narratives about LGBTQ+ people or widely debunked claims about election fraud.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate鈥檚 report on the grooming narrative tells social media companies to crack down on hate on their platforms. The federal government should also hold those companies accountable, said Ahmed.
"U.S. social media platforms are protected under the law from any liability. They're not subject to the same negligence law that a deli would be, or any other business. And so it's time for change,鈥� Ahmed said.
The law that shields social media companies from being held accountable for what people post is now .
Individuals can also take themselves out of the misinformation equation.
Cesar Z. Ruiz works with the civil rights organization in the area of voting rights and redistricting. Social media platforms are slow to take down disinformation, especially in Spanish, but people can stop the spread on their own profiles, he recently told .
鈥淏eing thorough, trying to verify information before you spread that information, is another key role. And be reporting it to community-based organizations and allowing us to track it and use resources that we have to spread the right information,鈥� Ruiz said.
The grooming narrative continues to surface outside of elections. The Arlington library board met in early October to discuss the appropriateness of Pride month displays in the children鈥檚 section, and one community member accused LGBTQ people in support of inclusivity in libraries of 鈥済谤辞辞尘颈苍驳鈥� kids.
Johnathan Gooch with Equality Texas calls the narrative painful, especially considering how much work his organization and others do to support and affirm young people.
鈥淓ducating young people about LGBTQ issues is just about making the next generation's lives a little easier. They deserve what we didn't have," he said.
For resources and support, call at 877-565-8860, at 866-488-7386 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
四虎影院 is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider today. Thank you.
