Unstable GOP candidate calls LGBTQ+ people a “terrorist organization” responsible for killing Christian children

This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

Valentina Gomez has arrived in Texas.

Valentina Gomez, who ran for Missouri Secretary of State this year using slurs and hateful rhetoric during her failed campaign, has now relocated to Texas and is running for Congress. She continues to promote extreme anti-LGBTQ+ views while also attempting to capitalize on her social media following.

In a video posted to her platform, she declares, “I’m running for Congress in Texas, and I’m taking down a RINO and a dinosaur once and for all because Congress is full of crooks like Speaker [Mike] Johnson, who is just a little man with no balls who funds Ukraine. And Dan Crenshaw, who is only good at betraying his fellow Navy Seals.”

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) represents Texas’ Second Congressional District, which encompasses the northern and eastern suburbs of Houston. The term “RINO,” which stands for “Republican in name only,” is often used by Republicans to accuse fellow party members of not being conservative enough.

Gomez did not clarify how she is running for office in Texas so soon after her campaign in Missouri, but she did promise that she’s “coming to Texas to speak the truth, cook the crooks, and save the children.”

“Buckle up, Texas, because this ain’t my first rodeo,” she added. Her “first rodeo” likely refers to the GOP primary for Missouri Secretary of State earlier this year, where she finished a distant sixth place.

In a video posted to X just yesterday, Gomez announced that she is now accepting subscriptions on the platform, allowing people to pay for access to exclusive content. She boldly stated that “0% of the profits will go to an LGBTQ cause.” In the video, she claimed she would be “catching a pedophile” and shooting a gun, among other actions, all while wearing a shirt that read, “Don’t be weak and gay.”

Earlier this week, Gomez made the unfounded claim that “the LGBTQ is a terrorist organization,” despite the fact that “LGBTQ” does not refer to any kind of organization. She went on to assert, “If they can’t groom your children, they will kill them,” adding that “pedophiles that hide under the LGBTQ flag are the next mass shooters.” She also said, “Christians are being hunted and killed and now multiple kids in a Christian school are dead,” referencing the school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin earlier this week. However, the shooter was not LGBTQ+ in any way, and evidence suggests she had been influenced by neo-Nazis and far-right ideologies.

Gomez has a long history of using anti-gay slurs, including during her failed campaign for Missouri Secretary of State, where she recently referred to anyone who didn’t vote for her as a “faot.” One of her main campaign slogans was “Don’t be weak and gay,” and she gained attention earlier this year when a video of her running in a Kevlar vest went viral. In the video, she said, “In America, you can be anything you want. So don’t be weak and gay. Stay fking hard.”

Her extreme rhetoric also cost her a job with Nestle Purina. After being let go for her anti-LGBTQ+ actions, she posted a video saying, “Today, I fired them. No amount of money, stock, or bullying will make me compromise my values. So I will never support a company that wants to empower and protect pedophiles and groomers in our schools and libraries.”

As her primary campaign drew closer, Gomez became more unhinged, regularly calling LGBTQ+ people “pedophiles.” She even posted a video this past week where she used the slur “fa***ts,” falsely claimed that unnamed individuals tried to poison her dogs, and referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as an “Indian hoe.” She also made derogatory remarks about Democrats, saying they are all “gay, vaccinated, and cannot reproduce.”

Christian commentator says trans people should be “erased from the earth” in vicious SCOTUS rant

This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation

Anti-trans activist and far-right provocateur Matt Walsh demanded that transgender individuals be “completely erased from the earth” during an anti-trans rally outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

That morning, oral arguments commenced in the case of United States v. Skrmetti, which challenges Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The outcome of this case is expected to shape the future of gender-affirming care access across the country.

Walsh was joined by other anti-trans figures, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), as they spoke outside the Supreme Court while pro-trans rights activists attempted to drown out their message. The New Republic reports that there were approximately four times as many pro-trans protesters as anti-trans ones.

“Children have a right to be protected from all of those people over there who want to harm them and damage them and destroy them, and they will be,” Walsh declared.

“So to the trans activists over there who are claiming this is all about the rights of children, I say again: Yes, you’re right, it is. They have a right to be protected from you. Children have a right to be protected from all of those people over there who want to harm them and damage them and destroy them.”

“They are gonna lose,” he continued. “They are losing right now. We are not going to let them harm our children. This case is just the beginning of the fight. It is not the end. We are not gonna rest until every child is protected, until trans ideology is entirely erased from the earth. That’s what we’re fighting for, and we will not stop until we achieve it.”

Walsh also stated, “There’s no such thing as a ‘trans kid.’ That doesn’t exist. Those kids are not trans. They are confused, and their confusion has been exploited by quacks and abusers. They are abuse victims. They are not trans kids.”

Walsh, the author of Church of Cowards, is known for producing anti-trans documentaries and promoting harmful rhetoric online. He has advocated against no-fault divorce and compared raising gay children to human trafficking or amputating limbs. He has also faced accusations of defending those who commit child sexual abuse.

Moreover, Walsh has stated that “two men shouldn’t be allowed to adopt,” opposed diversity initiatives within the Republican National Committee, and has relentlessly attacked transgender people. His actions include starring in a feature-length comedy film intended to mock trans women and girls fighting for the right to compete in sports in alignment with their gender.

In a November 7, 2022, appearance on conservative podcaster Joe Rogan’s show, Walsh described homosexuality as a result of humans being a “fallen species,” attributing it to “our fallen human nature” and “proclivities towards sin,” explaining his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Donald Trump is already influencing other countries to intensify their crackdowns on homosexuality

This blog is originally appeared at LGBTQ Nation.

A leading lawmaker in Uzbekistan referenced Trump’s electoral victory as a reason to push for a ban on LGBTQ+ “propaganda.

The leader of a party in Uzbekistan’s government coalition has announced that they are drafting a law to ban LGBTQ+ “propaganda” in the country, crediting Donald Trump for inspiring the move.

Alisher Qodirov, head of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) party, which shares control of the lower chamber of Uzbekistan’s parliament with the Liberal Democrats, shared the news on Telegram. He revealed that his party is working on a draft law aimed at prohibiting discussions about LGBTQ+ issues.

In his post, Qodirov referenced a statement from Ivanka Trump, where she endorsed her father’s opposition to “inappropriate sexual content” and “transgender ideology” in schools. This rhetoric, which falsely claims that schools are teaching children to be transgender or exposing them to gay sexual content, has been used in some U.S. states and school districts to justify bans on any mention of LGBTQ+ issues.

Qodirov wrote, “The change in the center of the disease is very good,” adding that his party is working on a law to ban any form of LGBTQ+ “propaganda.”

Homosexuality remains illegal in Uzbekistan, a Muslim-majority nation, and can lead to up to three years in prison. The country, along with Turkmenistan, is one of the only two post-Soviet states to criminalize homosexuality. There are no legal protections against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination or hate crimes in Uzbekistan.

A 2021 Human Rights Watch report highlighted the severe abuse faced by gay and bisexual men in the country, who are targeted by both vigilante groups and law enforcement. Many LGBTQ+ activists have been forced to abandon public efforts and operate “completely underground” due to the threat of violence and harassment.

One activist shared their experience with HRW, explaining that they had to suspend most of their projects due to the intense risks involved. Five men told the organization they were forced to pay bribes of up to $1,000 to prevent the police from exposing their sexual orientation to their families or the public.

Russia enlisted anti-LGBTQ+ right-wing groups to spread propaganda targeting U.S. audiences

This blog originally appeared at LGBT Nation.

The Department of Justice disclosed that Tenet Media was primarily funded by Russian state media and frequently gives a platform to anti-LGBTQ+ broadcasters. N

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment, several anti-LGBTQ+ right-wing broadcasters, including Tim Pool and Dave Rubin (who is gay), have unknowingly worked for a Russian government-funded media company designed to spread propaganda and disinformation to U.S. audiences. While there is no evidence suggesting the broadcasters were aware of the company’s Russian ties, unsealed court documents revealed that Russia supports former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, as reported by The Hill.

The FBI is now investigating the case, drawing parallels to Russian “troll farms” that spread anti-Democratic content during the 2016 and 2020 elections. In response, the Biden administration confirmed ongoing Russian efforts to influence the 2024 election, and the DOJ seized 32 web domains used by Russia to propagate its messaging in the U.S.

The DOJ indictment claims that two employees of RT (formerly Russia Today), a Russian state-controlled media outlet, secretly funneled nearly $10 million over the past year to fund and manage Tenet Media, a Tennessee-based online content creation company. This company, which platforms the aforementioned broadcasters, has produced over 2,000 videos in the past 10 months on TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. These videos have garnered more than 20 million views collectively, according to the DOJ.

Although the indictment doesn’t explicitly name Tenet Media, referring to it only as “U.S. Company 1,” it does describe the company as a “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues.” This description aligns with the one Tenet Media uses on its YouTube channel, as noted by New York Times reporter Aric Toler.

The RT employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, operated under the aliases Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti, managing the funding, hiring, and content editing for the company.

Tenet Media’s YouTube channel features several anti-LGBTQ+ videos, including titles like “Fellas, Is It Gay To Date A Trans Woman?”, “The TRUTH About Gender Ideology,” videos claiming Pride parades expose children to nudity, and another falsely accusing the drag queen segment of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies of “mocking Christianity.” The segment’s artistic director clarified it depicted a Dionysian feast.

In alignment with this rhetoric, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. of imposing gender “perversions” on Russian schoolchildren, using this as a pretext for anti-LGBTQ+ policies and his continued invasion of Ukraine. Tenet Media has also published videos criticizing Ukraine, claiming it spreads violence and unrest in Russia.

The DOJ stated, “While the views expressed in the videos are not uniform, most are aligned with the publicly stated goals of the Government of Russia and RT — to deepen domestic divisions within the United States.”

Tenet Media’s website lists prominent figures like Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Tayler Hansen, and Turning Point USA’s chief creative officer Benny Johnson — all of whom have expressed anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments on social media. The platform has also hosted discussions between former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and conservative gay commentator Glenn Greenwald.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration revealed that Russian government agents had been operating websites, social media platforms, and creating fake social media personas to push propaganda that supports Russian interests. According to The Verge, the DOJ announced it had already seized 32 web domains connected to this Russian scheme and indicated that more seizures are likely as the investigation continues.

Numerous media studies have demonstrated that Russian government-funded “troll farms” spread state propaganda aimed at deepening political divisions in the U.S. during the 2016 and 2020 elections. The exposure of Tenet Media represents the latest version of this tactic, with Russian agents seemingly using anti-LGBTQ+ media figures as part of their broader anti-American disinformation campaign.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑