Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

DeSantis Spokeswoman Dragged For Believing Fake Article About 'Homophobic' Dachshund Is Real

DeSantis Spokeswoman Dragged For Believing Fake Article About 'Homophobic' Dachshund Is Real
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; @whitney_chewston/Instagram

Christina Pushaw—Press Secretary for Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis—was widely mocked after she tweeted a screenshot of a fake news story allegedly written by Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz about a daschund that has "become the new face of online homophobia."

The dog in question, Whitney Chewston, is owned by Ben Campbell and Logan Hickman, a gay couple that runs Chewston's Instagram account, which has a substantial online following.


Whitney Chewston became the subject of a well known meme last year that often features her sitting next to a glass of red wine with a Whisper caption that reads, "not too fond of gay people," suggesting she is homophobic.

The original Instagram post is much more innocent, of course, and received more than 26,000 likes since it was first posted in June 2019.

The meme has been around for well over a year but Pushaw didn't bother to fact check before she tweeted an attack against Lorenz, saying she is "infamous for showing up masked on random people's doorsteps & sliding into the DMs of tiktok teenagers."

But the screenshot is fake and the "story" was recently fact checked by Snopes.

Homophobic daschunds are the stuff of fantasy.

Pushaw was swiftly called out.


Taylor Lorenz, for her part, has a good sense of humor about the whole thing, pledging to actually write the article if she gets to 500,000 followers on Twitter.

Lorenz has been a target in conservative circles in recent weeks after she managed to unmask the woman behind "Libs of TikTok," a right-wing Twitter account known for sharing conspiracy theories, homophobic and transphobic content and anything that attacks liberals. The account has helped set the agenda of right-wing discourse in attacks against public education and teachers.

Lorenzidentified the woman behind the account as Chaya Raichik, a Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish real estate agent, noting she had created the account in November 2020 and spent some time experimenting with Twitter handles before landing on the Libs of TikTok angle last spring.

Raichik used the account to share inflammatory content, such as a clip of a woman teaching sexual education to children in Kentucky she branded a "predator," a claim that quickly made its way to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham's program.

The account has also served as a space vital to the spread of conspiracy theories alleging teachers are "grooming" children and proceeding with an "indoctrination" campaign designed to make children more tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community.

Despite the fact Lorenz used publicly available information—namely Raichik's real estate license—to identify her, conservatives accused her and The Washington Post of engaging in unethical journalistic practices.

More from News/lgbtq

Screenshot from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver/YouTube

John Oliver Epically Calls Out Awkward Truth Behind Former NCAA Swimmer's Anti-Trans Tirades

On Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the outspoken host devoted the entire program to the attack on trans girls and women who play sports by the GOP.

Oliver began the program saying:

Keep ReadingShow less
man in front of computer code
Chris Yang on Unsplash

Conspiracy Theories That Seem Believable The More You Look Into Them

We tend to think of conspiracy theories as a phenomenon of the digital age. But the internet and mobile devices only allow them to be created and spread faster.

Conspiracy theories have likely been around as long as human civilization has. They are, at their root, just another form of rumors and gossip.

Keep ReadingShow less
People protesting, one protestor holding a sign that reads, 'Enough'
Photo by Liam Edwards on Unsplash

People Explain The Pettiest Reasons They Boycott A Specific Brand

No matter how many complaints we file or phone calls we make, some businesses refuse to catch a hint about their bad practices until we hit it where it hurts the most: their bottom line.

While some people will give a business every possible chance before refusing to be a customer anymore, others will boycott over the most petty reasons in existence.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Rather; Donald Trump
Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Dan Rather Goes Viral With Epic 'Turkish Proverb' Aimed At Trump—And It's On Point

Legendary journalist Dan Rather went viral and had social media users nodding their heads after sharing a supposed Turkish proverb about "clowns" aimed at President Donald Trump.

In recent days, the Trump administration has come under fire for the Signal chat scandal, in which top officials discussed war plans in Yemen on an unsecured server; deported a man to El Salvador and defended the move because the man had "traffic violations;" has continued to court controversy over Trump's repeated threats to annex Greenland; has further aggravated relations with Canada; and launched a global trade war that has sent markets tumbling.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Rosalyn Sandri
@rosie.sandri/TikTok

Trans Texas Teacher Resigns After Being Targeted By MAGA Account 'Libs Of TikTok'

Rosalyn Sandri, a transgender high school English teacher in Texas, revealed she was forced to resign from her position "for my safety and the safety of the students" following online death threats after being doxxed by the far-right "Libs of TikTok" account.

Sandri, an English teacher at Red Oak High School just south of Dallas for the past three years, resigned on Monday—Trans Day of Visibility—following a wave of death threats, hate mail, and violent messages. Her decision came shortly after Libs of TikTok circulated a TikTok video she had shared about feeling affirmed by her students.

Keep ReadingShow less