Florida Republicans revive deadly "queers recruit" myth with passage of "don't say gay" bill

[Nevilledog]

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Amanda Marcotte
@AmandaMarcotte
The "don't say gay" bill is repulsive on its own. To make it worse, Florida Republicans are reviving the 70s era myths that gay people "recruit" kids and are pedophiles.

salon.com
Florida Republicans revive deadly "queers recruit" myth with passage of "don't say gay" bill
Florida Republicans are accusing LGBTQ people of "grooming," "sexual instruction," and bribing kids to be gay
11:23 AM · Mar 8, 2022

https://www.salon.com/2022/03/08/florida-revive-queers-recruit-myth-with-passage-of-dont-say-gay-bill/

Even against an overwhelming backdrop of relentless GOP book banning and censorship attempts of recent months, Florida's "don't say gay" bill stands out from the crowd.

There are good reasons why the proposed legislation, which passed the Florida Senate on Tuesday, is drawing national attention and condemnation. The bill doesn't just ban teachers from allowing any acknowledgment of LGBTQ people in the classroom, it uses the novel "bounty hunter" system Texas used to ban abortion to allow parents to sue schools if, say, a teacher allows a kid with same-sex parents to talk about it in class. Even Kate McKinnon of "Saturday Night Live" jokingly weighed in on a recent "Weekend Update."

"So, like, one kid can say, 'I live with my parents,' but another one has to say, 'I live in a house with two adult men who bought me when I was young?'"

Despite all the public pressure, Florida Republicans pushed this bill through the legislature and sent it to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk on Tuesday morning. To make it even worse, Republicans, in their eagerness to get the "don't say gay" bill across the finish line, revived a repulsive, homophobic myth: That queer people are pedophiles who recruit children.

*snip*

[Runningdawg]

1. I just finished reading the book Veracity by Laura Bynum. It gave me chills.

Set in 2045, after a pandemic, citizens are kept in line by the banning of words and self-destructing chips implanted around their carotid arteries. One word may bring instant death or carry the penalty of rape or being blinded, while others carry the penalty of slow torturous death. The worst may involve watching your family being tortured to death. No exemptions for children or those with mental health/dementia issues.
What REALLY gave me the chills is this was published in 2010. And today, a section of America has it's first "red-listed" word.

[Baked Potato]

2. Florida is the Trial Balloon state. Nt

[Aristus]

3. We've gone backwards since the 70's, it seems.

In the 1970's, the career of viciously homophobic hag Anita Bryant cratered as a result of her hate-mongering.

Now Florida politicians are raking in the campaign blood money by embracing ever more virulent strains of the same hatred.