i am begging and pleading with journalists, please just spend 20 seconds googling the "concerned local parent" whose quote you're using as the focal point of your story. not only do you look like a fool, but you're letting dangerous people normalize bigotry.
CBS LA quoted this dad concerned about the existence of gay people... without bothering to find out he authored a book called "the born gay hoax" and was on the board of 'the foundation for the marketplace of ideas' alongside prominent white nationalists irehr.org
when you allow extremists to pose as everyday people and use their quotes in coverage of what the average person is thinking & feeling, you let them set the tone. these aren't average people. this isn't representative... but it will be if you let them control the narrative.
this man was booed off the stage at CPAC in 2010 because he was *too homophobic* for fucking CPAC. now 12 years later, he's on the local tv news with the same talking points posing as just a regular suburban dad. stop letting these people fool you.
salon.com
salon.com
sometimes it's absolutely intentional, like when the federalist put out a documentary ft. marsha lessard as a mom concerned about critical race theory, the same year she was helping plan the insurrection & holding onto gun accessories for stewart rhodes
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
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