Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

State Lawmaker Brutally Calls Out Colleague for Fundraising Email Calling Her a 'Groomer'

State Lawmaker Brutally Calls Out Colleague for Fundraising Email Calling Her a 'Groomer'
@MalloryMcMorrow/Twitter

As Republican elected officials across the country continue to target LGBTQ children, the homophobic trope that LGBTQ people "groom" children to be LGBTQ themselves has gotten a grim revival.

Christina Pushaw, the spokesperson for far-right Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, attempted to defend the state's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which imposes broad bans any "instruction" of sexuality and gender in early grades, by claiming its critics were "groomers" and even pedophiles. This same rhetoric is now routinely lobbed by other right-wing media personalities and members of Congress.


The trope is now part of the discussion in the Michigan State Senate after right-wing state senator Lana Theis attacked her Democratic colleague Mallory McMorrow in a fundraising email.

Invoking the conservative moral panic over LGBTQ people and critical race theory, Theis wrote:

“These are the people we are up against. Progressive social media trolls like Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Snowflake) who are outraged they can’t … groom and sexualize kindergarteners or that 8-year-olds are responsible for slavery.”

The email came after Theis delivered an incendiary invocation featuring similar claims before the Senate session that prompted three Democratic state senators, including McMorrow, to walk out of session in protest.

McMorrow recently addressed the matter on the Senate floor in a blistering speech calling out Republican hysteria over critical race theory and LGBTQ young people.

McMorrow said in part:

"I didn't expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd District had, overnight, accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising for herself. So I sat on it for a while, wondering 'Why me?' And then I realized because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme, because you can't claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of 'parental rights' if another parent is standing up to say no."

She then accused Theis of targeting her for pushing back against false accusations that critical race theory teaches white children to blame themselves for slavery and to consider themselves oppressors.

After describing ostracism she and her family faced from church officials in her youth, McMorrow continued:

"So who am I? I am a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom who knows that the very notion that learning about slavery or redlining or systemic racism somehow means that children are being taught to feel bad or hate themselves because they are white is absolute nonsense. No child alive today is responsible for slavery. No one in this room is responsible for slavery, but each and every single one of us bears the responsibility for writing the next chapter of history."

McMorrow's rebuttal was met with widespread praise on social media.






Others encouraged their followers to watch it as well.



These conservative attacks are unlikely to subside any time soon, but with rebuttals like McMorrow's, it could prove harder to convince voters than they anticipated.

More from News

People Describe The Worst 'Bonus' They've Ever Gotten At Work

Most of us have worked at one problematic workplace, with reasons ranging from toxic coworkers to terrible bosses to unlivable pay. Sometimes, it feels like a joke that the employees are even being paid at all!

But the biggest joke of all might be the end-of-year bonus, or lack thereof. They're at times so laughable, they take the cake for horrible work conditions, or are quite literally, a slice of cake.

Keep ReadingShow less
A couple facing sunset view
Mindy Sabiston/Unsplash

Guys Reveal The White Lies They Tell Their Significant Others

When you're in a long-term relationship, the conversations you have with your significant other tend to be a lot more casual than when emotions were more intense at the start.

The viewpoints shared on various topics and the divulging of information imparted can either be very engaging or droning.

Keep ReadingShow less
Four people standing together; one holds a guitar.
American Idol/ABC

Carnie Wilson Speaks Out After Daughter Hit With 'Cruel' Comments Following 'American Idol' Audition

Carnie Wilson of the '90s pop vocal trio Wilson Phillips spoke out in response to the slew of cruel comments leveled at her 19-year-old daughter Lola Bonfiglio after she auditioned for American Idol .

"I just wanna say, we're human, and the internet is so cruel. It can be so cruel," Wilson said during the "Music of the ’90s" panel at 90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from TikToker @emilyrathbooks' video
@emilyrathbooks/TikTok

Author Epically Unloads On Trump-Supporting Fan Who Claims 'Not All Of Us Are Horrible'

Author Dr. Emily Rath refused to give a free pass to a fan who supports Republican President Donald Trump and claimed in a comment that "not all of us are horrible."

Rath, a full-time author who loves international politics, shared a now-viral video in which she gave a fiery response to a TikToker named "Jordyn" who wrote, "As a Trump supporter, I love your books. Not all of us are horrible.".

Keep ReadingShow less
Brooke Rollins
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Leaked Memo Reveals USDA Has Banned Massive List Of Terms Including 'Climate' And 'Pollution'

On his first day in office, Republican (MAGA) President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders (EOs).

Among them was the MAGA movement's response to "woke."

Keep ReadingShow less