Transmissions: Predators, prey, and Pride
Spurred on by a Twitter account known for its provocative nature, @libsoftiktok, a cadre of alleged Proud Boys members stormed into the San Lorenzo library in the East Bay June 11.
Their target was a "Drag Queen Story Hour" event hosted by local drag artist Panda Dulce.About 10 or so of the group marched in, calling the host and others homophobic and transphobic slurs.
One of the men was reported by KRON 4 as wearing a T-shirt showing an assault rifle with the slogan, "Kill Your Local Pedophile."Dulce was escorted away by security, and local sheriff's deputies de-escalated the situation.The harassment in San Lorenzo, plus the arrest the same day of 31 alleged members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho intent on reportedly starting a riot at the city's Pride event, point to a new, more violent anti-LGBTQ movement in the United States.
While a clear escalation, it is also very much in line with the rise in "Don't Say Gay" laws, aimed at squelching lessons on LGBTQ history in public schools, as well as the countless attacks on transgender people in 2022.The actions are probably best typified by the words of another who was present in Coeur d'Alene and part of a separate protest of the Pride event."The drag queen thing, they're preying on our children and that's my target," said Tom Meyer, who was reported by Idaho Statesman as being part of a group holding signs and singing hymns as a counter protest against the Pride event. "What they're doing is they are grooming children for pedophilia, in my belief."These events fit a pattern that has been growing for months, of equating LGBTQ people — particularly transgender people and drag queens — as being "groomers" preying on young children.
