Right-wing influencers fuel harassment against LGBTQ youth – By Mia Gingerich (Media Matters) / Oct 178, 2023
Threats against a high school homecoming queen highlight the increasing focus by anti-LGBTQ influencers on targeting minors
A trans high schooler in Missouri who was elected homecoming queen received widespread harassment and violent threats following viral posts from Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik and former college swimmer Riley Gaines, who represent a growing industry of right-wing influencers whose notoriety hinges on their ability to make controversy out of the daily existence of queer and trans people. As is the case in Missouri, a growing number of those they target are underage.
In mid-September, a school district in Kansas City shared pictures from the homecoming ceremony at one of its high schools on X (formerly Twitter), congratulating the young woman who had been voted homecoming queen by the other seniors at her school. She was not the first trans girl to win the title at her school, with another trans student having been voted into the ceremonial role eight years earlier.
It was enough, however, to attract the attention of smaller profile online trolls, who started reposting images of the teenager from the district’s social media paired with transphobic rhetoric. When Raichik posted her take on the story on September 18 — in which she misgendered the student, mocked her appearance and tagged the school’s X account — the student and school began receiving threats and widespread harassment.
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