A Republican candidate for public office in North Carolina spread anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda on social media this week, falsely claiming that pedophiles are included in the LGBTQ+ umbrella.
Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, made the false statements on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. Morrow was attempting to attack her opponent, Democrat Mo Green, who has been endorsed by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality North Carolina. In her post, Morrow alleged that Green would not “keep our children safe” because he had accepted the endorsement. “NEWSFLASH…the ‘+’ includes PEDOPH*L*A!!” Morrow falsely alleged, censoring the letter “i.”
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Numerous false statements like Morrow’s have been repeatedly debunked over the past decade, yet they remain a perennial favorite on the political right. Queer people have faced charges of “recruiting” children for decades, but the modern claim that LGBTQ+ groups welcome and accept “pedophilia” began as a trolling campaign on the infamous message board 4chan in 2016, when anonymous users created graphics advertising an “LGBTP” acronym that later gained traction offline.
Ensuing years saw several variations of the falsehood spread online (like the posters that claimed the “B” stands for “bestiality”), which often originated on 4chan as well. In 2017, some accounts claimed to be spreading awareness of a new identity called “clovergender,” defined as an adult who identifies as a child and seeks minor-aged sexual partners. That claim — boosted on Twitter by infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli — also came from 4chan, the site logo of which is a stylized four-leaf clover.
Still, right-wing pundits and propagandists have continued to spread misinformation of this type into 2024, especially painting transgender and nonbinary people and their allies as “groomers.” The right-wing social media account RNC Research falsely claimed this August that Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz had signed a bill adding “pedophilia” to a list of sexual orientations recognized by his state.
Republicans have adopted this disinformation vector on the federal and state levels over the past several years, and North Carolina is no exception: The GOP’s gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson has referred to gay and trans people as “filth” and claimed homosexuality leads to pedophilia. Conservative state legislators pushed multiple anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law last year, including Senate Bill 49, a “parents’ bill of rights” measure that requires school staff to out trans youth to their parent or guardian. Sen. Amy Galey, one of that law’s primary sponsors, accused schools of telling children to “keep secrets” last February in an allusion to popular anti-molestation messaging. (The Campaign for Southern Equality filed a complaint against SB 49 in January.)
Morrow’s campaign representatives did not respond to requests for comment, according to NBC affiliate WRAL. A former nurse and homeschool co-op teacher, Morrow came under fire last month after video resurfaced from a deleted Facebook livestream on January 6, 2021, in which Morrow advocated for the arrests of anyone who certified the 2020 U.S. election results as well as a military coup. “And if the police won’t do it and the Department of Justice won’t do it, then [Trump] will have to enact the Insurrection Act,” Morrow said, per a copy of the video reviewed by CNN. “In which case the Insurrection Act completely puts the Constitution to the side and says, now the military rules all.”
In a statement to WRAL, Green said Morrow’s false statement demonstrated why she is the “wrong role model” to hold the position of superintendent.
“Every child deserves to learn, and every staff member deserves to work, in an environment that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive,” Green told the station. “Politicians like Morrow use schools as battlegrounds for their culture wars, and it’s simply unacceptable.”
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