2SLGBTQ+ and the extreme hate groups targeting youth.
Extreme hate groups and disturbed leaders that legitimize hate are incapable of achieving anything else productive. They lack intelligence and determination to carry humanity forward.
Below I have included many links for readers to explore.
Picture this, it was 1999 in Northern British Columbia Canada, a cool cloudy day in the spring. You are on your elementary school grass during lunch break. The ground is damp from spring rains, and the plethora of spring smells fill your nose - the ones that make you excited for summer and the ones that make you hope everything freezes over immediately.
All around you are kids screaming and yelling, playing weird and random games - in the background some girls are pretending they are the Spice Girls. You are standing with some of your friends, talking about the new music out on MTV and the growing excitement for the release of the PlayStation 2 after Y2K.
Then, some other kids you know, walk over quickly: “Are you gay?”
“What’s that?”
“Oh my god! You don’t know what gay is?”
Laughter ensues. You walk away and pretend you don’t care, and everyone seems to shift into new jokes. Within minutes, it is like it did not ever happen - for everyone else.
It would be about 4 years before you learned what the word “gay” means - and not the “happy” definition either, which you would deflect to for many years. “Uh, yeah I am happy… are you?”
While the moment mentioned above was simply a moment, it would be something that shaped every single interaction for me until 2011.
Youth are continuously exploring who they are, what are their boundaries or triggers, what they like, what goals and dreams they might have. All humans have lived through adolescence or youth, but it was not until the 1940s that the term teenager or youth were brought to the public’s attention. Youth is simply the part before becoming a derisive and apathetic adult, hoping that an asteroid will just hit this earth so that you can properly sleep and stop the relentless capitalist wheel of bills and anxiety.
As adults, it seems we lose that connection to youth - as if it is over there or not part of our own stories. Politicians seems to forget the most and in particular, they forget that youth are the future. Politicians often acknowledge youth in their political platforms to court parents based on hyperbolic or baseless fears and they use this chicanery to deceive voters. These intentional actions cause direct and absolute harm to youth.
It is disgusting to say the least.
2SLGBTQ+ people are some of the most targeted groups, though by far not the only ones, by politicians and hate groups. Current trends are leading to increased hate crimes towards queer people in the social, political, and legal realms that are leading to silencing, criminalization, eradication, and the justification for hate and murder.
There have been disturbing and heart-breaking stories in the news of young trans kids committing suicide. Kids and teenagers (youth) have reported increased bullying and attacks directly related to disturbed parents and cult leaders such as Libs of TikTok. Some of those recent stories include:
The self described "concerned parents" of the Leave Our Kids Alone movement have been pushing anti-LGBTQ+ hate in Southern California schools while illegally stripping LGBTQ+ students of their civil rights. They have instigated violent brawls at school board meetings alongside Proud Boys and told LGBTQ+ youth to hang themselves. Now: they're running cover for the man who fatally shot a woman for displaying a Pride flag at her store in Lake Arrowhead, California. (on Daily Kos)
Taylor Lorenz recently interviewed activist Chaya Raichik as written in the Washington Post (and clips are all over social media) in February 2024. Raichik is the owner of the far-right social media account and sits on a state advisory panel, has drawn attention since the death of a nonbinary student near Tulsa, Nex Benedict. It is jarring to witness the direct causal harm being done to people and groups with impunity and increasingly protected by outrageous and intentional misguided expressions of “freedom of speech” by “leaders” and influencers.
As Libs of TikTok, Raichik has been blamed for sparking bomb threats, property damage, shooting threats, written and verbal harassment and other forms of violence against individuals, hospitals, and school across the country… In her profile picture on X, she is holding a newspaper that reads: “when Libs of TikTok posts, threats increasingly follow.”
These stories are heartbreaking and disturbing. They go against a common sense of humanity and what any leaders (or people with large social followings) should do. Leaders should not cause harm to those that they are supposed to protect, up lift, support, and lead. By leaders either endorsing people like Raichik or others like Elon Musk who give Raichik a platform to profit off, they are complicit in the deaths and harms being done. It is an ongoing and relentless destruction of identities based in alarming ideology, power, and corruption and supported by unfettered capitalist greed.
In a podcast interview this week about the violence that follows her posts, Raichik smiled and said she’s proud of being called a stochastic terrorist - someone who inspires supporters to commit violence by demonizing a person or group.
As a gay man, I find it incredibly difficult to hear these statements and read these stories. When queer bodies and identities hurt, all queer people are harmed. We have always needed each other, and today is no different than yesterday, and it will continue to be true tomorrow. I use the word queer intentionally. For me, based on my academic learning and personal experience, it is one of the best words as it is political and helps bring all our unique identities together.
When I finally came out in 2011, I was not only worried about my close family and friends, but also how my life might change. Through the next decade, I would learn that most people are supportive – especially those closest to you who love and support you unconditionally. At the very least, many people do not care what your sexuality is or orientation, nor do they care about your gender expression - not because they feel less about you, but because it does not actually affect their lives.
“fuck who want, love who you like” - Dua Lipa
Unfortunately, there are many instances where queer people are not supported, protected, or loved unconditionally. It is why the queer family and strong legal protections are so important.
Some very powerful and angry people, hidden behind “Christian values” and “freedom fighting” have taken over our politics, social media, and institutions. These people have made it their mission to roll back rights for women, 2SLGBTQ+ people, people of colour / the global majority, Indigenous Peoples, immigrants, and many others. They are given platforms on Twitter (X, I guess) by heinous people like Elon Musk, or justified and inflamed by bad actors like Donald Trump, the entire republican party at this point, and many extreme leaders in American States such as Florida and Tennessee. In 2023, the USA saw a record number of anti-LGBTQ laws introduced in legislators.
In Canada, these extreme hate groups or hateful leaders are on the rise too, including the Trinity Bible Christian Fundamentalist group and the Premier of Alberta Danielle Smith. The Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) released a warning recently on the extreme impact of anti-LGBTQ organizations.
Anti-LGBTQ+ narratives remain a common theme in violent rhetoric espoused by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Freedom Movement and networks such as Diagolon and QAnon,” the report says, according to the CBC. “Trans and drag communities in Canada have been the target of several online threats and real world intimidation tactics in recent months.”
In other parts of the world, extreme laws are coming into effect like the Fascist leader of Italy - Georgia Meloni, Putin’s new laws curbing gender reassignment and LGBT propaganda laws to protect traditional values, Hungary’s Viktor Orban is battling the EU on removing rights for same-sex couples, Uganda’s recently passed anti-homosexuality bill that threatens the death penalty, Indonesia’s threat of jail for extra-marital sex, and more.
Much of these extreme views are in-part thanks to years of disinformation campaigns supported through algorithms that favour extreme, contentious, while provoking strong emotional reactions, even when the view being shared is false or harmful.
Without getting into huge detail on how algorithms work - if interested, check out the books Algorithms of Oppression, Weapons of Math Destruction, or Race After Technology to name a few - also note I do not order through Amazon as Jeff Bezos is another problem - they essentially flatten your interests by prioritizing things you will most definitely like or relate to without exposing you to as many ideas or perspectives that you oppose. They prioritize extreme perspectives (true or false) as those views drive views and clicks and therefore, drive profits. Mark Zuckerberg noted once that the pattern of content getting closer and closer to becoming harmful, on average, gets more attention than more balanced or central content, which includes hate speech and self-harm.
No matter where we draw the lines for what is allowed, as a piece of content gets close to that line, people will engage with it more on average
Coming out at 21 was terrifying and liberating. I did not come out because anyone told me to, nor because I was tricked into it. I was not exposed to gay people through tv nor even in school during sexual health class. Yet, miraculously, I still am gay. Shocker. So, why am I gay then? How could I possible be gay if I never knew or understood what it was for most of my life?
The current rhetoric from extreme hate groups is that teaching about queer sexual health, supporting youth explore their gender identities, teaching about all forms of love, and simply creating space for acceptance, is somehow anti-religious, anti-freedom, and anti-family and that these educational opportunities or exposures are going to make people gay. I can tell you for certain that I only witnessed the heterosexual world, and I am definitely not straight. Queer people are the perfect expression of freedom and family through love and connection. Some queer people continue to want to be part of religious groups that accept them, and many are spiritual.
I lived through a time, like many, where queer identities were invisible or were horribly attacked and blamed for a plethora of issues. It seems after a short period where identities were being supported and cherished; where youth could take healthy steps in exploring their gender or sexuality with medical professionals; we are now shifting quickly back to where we came from.
In writing this article, I have essentially concluded that the progressive voices, the humanist voices, and the global majority must come together to fight for equal rights, protections, and freedoms. This is now a war that we cannot lose. I despise using war and fear mongering to get my point across, but so many youth - the voices that cannot vote and are assumed voiceless - are being directly attacked. Queer youth are being murdered by the extreme hate groups and justified or provoked by so called leaders. Leaders should not harm those they are supposed to lead.
I believe that we can come together as a collective family against these disgusting and pathetic hate groups. I believe we can create a world where queer lives are free and able to thrive. Queer liberation means the collective liberation for all - groups that I have not even mentioned here today, but include Indigenous peoples, the colonized and oppressed, women and female bodies, people with disabilities, and so on.
We are a collective of unique individuals and together we will win. We are smarter, more fashionable, more compassionate, and more determined than ever.