As I’ve mentioned before, the Republican crusade on groomers is a myth. It’s easier to accuse gays and drag queens of being groomers than come out and say “We hate gays.” Or do as Ron DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw does and accuse anyone who sticks up for gay rights of being pro-groomer
As I’ve mentioned before, gays are not prone to pedophilia any more than straights. And DeSantis — and the other Republicans seizing on the same themes — show no interest in grooming by the religious right. Nor are they bothered by the potential for abuse and grooming in child marriages, as witness Tennessee had a bill — pulled after public backlash — that eliminated any age requirement for marriage. Now Wyoming Republicans are trying to kill a bill (which does have some Republican support) that would ban marriage below 16 and require parental approval below 18. AAAGH — according to Republicans it violates parental rights and religious freedom!
This says a lot about how they interpret both. And about their misogyny: parents shouldn’t be allowed to take their kids to drag shows or help them get treatment if they’re trans, but they should be able to marry off a statutory rape victim to her rapist. And it’s good to keep women under a man’s thumb before they get independent thoughts or an education. Grooming’s only bad as an excuse to beat on gays, not when it’s Roy Moore, a fine Christian leader, hitting on teens when he’s in his thirties.
And while DeSantis, Pushaw and their allies are perfectly fine with smearing anyone who opposes their anti-gay crusade as a groomer, they are shocked — shocked! — that anyone would make the same bullshit charge against DeSantis. Trump claims DeSantis partied with underage girls when he was a school-teacher and that’s unacceptable: “the most trenchant rebuke of Trump’s antics came from DeSantis himself, who lashed out at a press conference saying “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”
Fraser Sherman's Blog 