Scott Wiener: A bigot just threatened to bomb my home because I’m gay. I blame toxic Republican politics – San Francisco Chronicle
A group of alleged Proud Boys showed up at a public library in San Lorenzo on Saturday to try to intimidate a local drag queen, Panda Dulce. Why? Because she was there to read a story to children. That same day, over 30 armed members of another white nationalist group were arrested in Idaho for attempting to riot at a Pride event.
The next day, my staff received an email falsely calling me a pedophile and saying bombs had been planted in my San Francisco home and state Senate office, accompanied by the threat that I would “die today.” Why? Because I’m a gay man who has fought for LGBTQ civil rights my whole life.
Given the massive rise in online radicalization, these incidents are sadly not unique. And it’s right-wing politicians like Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida fueling this fire.
Queer and trans people have always been targeted by hateful bigots who want to strip us of our civil rights and send us back to the 1950s. Society has tried to erase us, and then criminalized or killed us when we refused to be erased.
But for much of the 2000s and 2010s, it seemed like we were making progress. The military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was repealed. Gay marriage was legalized. More and more LGBTQ people were elected to public office.
Yet, recently, we’ve seen an increase in hateful policies targeting LGBTQ people. Trans people in particular have become the focus of much of this bigotry. From legislation banning trans people from using gender-aligned bathrooms or playing on sports teams, to the Texas executive order criminalizing parents if they allow their kids to obtain gender-affirming care, to the “Don’t Say Gay” panic in Florida, it’s clear that the LGBTQ community is under vicious attack.
The newest targets are drag queens. Yes, drag queens, who inspire our communities and remind us that beauty comes in so many forms. Just 13 days after 19 children were massacred by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton announced new legislation to “defend kids,” not by passing stricter gun laws, but by banning minors from watching drag shows.
People like DeSantis, Abbott and Slaton have successfully found a way to channel all the rage felt by people who feel left behind by society. LGBTQ people are an easy target for that rage.
With inflation at almost 9 percent, the pandemic still surging across the country and mass shootings happening on a regular basis, both Democrats and Republicans are struggling to provide their bases with hope and motivation. Yet Republicans have focused on making people think that the root causes of all of these challenges are trans people and “groomers,” not their own failed policies.
According to right-wing politicians and online “activists,” being gay or trans means being a pedophile. And while child sexual abuse is very real and very serious, these are disgusting and baseless smears against LGBTQ people to try to make us go back in the closet.
This is a classic diversion tactic. Right-wing leaders are basically saying: See, it’s the queer people who are ruining everything. Not the wage stagnation we’ve created by gutting unions and keeping the minimum wage absurdly low. Not the pandemic, which we’ve all but ignored and told you was fake. Not the increasing temperatures and frequent natural disasters that we pretend aren’t related to climate change. This culture war is designed to avert attention away from the men behind the curtain who can’t govern.
I’ve been slandered as a “groomer” and “pedophile” more times than I can count. I’ve received thousands of death threats, overwhelmingly based on my work to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. I’ve almost become numb to it. Yet as we’ve seen with recent events, this rhetoric is escalating into actual violence. We can’t ignore it anymore.
Directing one’s supporters to hate LGBTQ people is always going to be easier than addressing structural issues plaguing our country. We’ve always been a target on which to pin fears about society’s decline. People will always be nostalgic for a “simpler” time — a time when being straight, cisgender, white, male and Christian guaranteed a certain degree of prosperity. People feel left behind and are more than happy to blame queer and trans people for ruining everything.
The only way to stop this violence from escalating is to cut it off at the root. We have to hold the people inciting it accountable — the Republican politicians cynically scapegoating LGBTQ people most of all.
Scott Wiener is a gay man who represents San Francisco and northern San Mateo County in the California Senate.