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How Anti-Gay Propaganda Leads to Real-World Violence

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LGBTQ people are 9 times more likely than non-LGBTQ people to be victims of a violent hate crime.

Data suggests that 70-80% of LGBTQ adults have experienced public harassment during their lifetime.

"Gay agenda" conspiracies that media commentators and online influencers amplify predict rises in hate crimes.

Anti-LGBTQ campaigns predict upticks in bomb threats, vandalism, and violent intimidation.

The “gay agenda” is a disinformation campaign and a set of propagandic conspiracies that are widely adopted by individuals who feel contempt, disgust, fear, or rivalry toward LGBTQ folks, often bypassing empathy, critical thinking, and self-reflection in order to defend rhetoric that scapegoats LGBTQ people for societal problems they dislike.

Within this constellation of conspiracies are countless accusations of LGBTQ people having ulterior motives, or plotting against straight people and traditional values. Examples include speculation that queer people groom children; that queer people manipulate the media to indoctrinate the masses into gayness; and that queer people hate the family and God.

Historically, the idea of a “gay agenda” traces back to Springs of Life Ministries, a California evangelical group that distributed a 1992 video series, "The Gay Agenda," to hundreds of right-wing Christian groups. The video, which claimed “17 percent of homosexuals eat human feces,” sold tens of thousands of copies, and televangelist Pat Robeson broadcast it on "The 700 Club" in 1993.

More alarming than the false alarmism itself is the fact that “gay agenda” propaganda fuels real-world attacks on LGBTQ people.

The State of LGBTQ Safety

Anti-LGBTQ harassment and violence has remained rampant in recent years. During the Pulse Massacre of 2016, for example, a gunman slaughtered 49 victims and wounded 58 at a gay club in Orlando. In 2022, a gunman preyed upon a gay venue in Colorado Springs, killing five and injuring 25. And as recently as this month, a gunman walked into a gay establishment in Tucson and killed five people.

Dozens of children have also killed themselves after experiencing anti-gay bullying that educators and passive bystanders instigated or did not interrupt. These victims include Asher Brown (age 13, 2010), Seth Walsh (age 13, 2010),........

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