People are reeling from a horrifying story about a family attacked and the parents accused of being kidnappers, “groomers” and "pedophiles."
One of the dads told the internetwhat happened to him, his husband and their two young children while riding an Amtrak train for a family vacation.
It began when they were approached by a man yelling at their son.
Robbie Pierce and his family were riding a train that made a stop in Diridon Station in San Jose, California. There, his son proudly asked to use a restroom by himself, only to be confronted by a conspiracy spouting bigot.
According to Pierce, the man raged and accused Pierce and his husband of horrible things.
When Pierce told the man to get away from his family, the stranger responded:
“Family? That’s not a family! You’re both rapists. You steal Black and Asian kids.”
“You guys aren’t natural. Homosexuals are an abomination. They steal and rape kids.”
As the stranger yelled, the children started crying. Eventually, the conductor distracted the bigoted stranger, and the family was able to get away.
The stranger was eventually arrested for refusing to leave the train.
In his Twitter thread, Pierce blamed the hateful rhetoric spewed forth by Republican politicians and right-wing commentators.
He called out those who’ve pushed lies about the LGBTQ+ community:
“We all know where that comes from. So thanks to Fox & Murdoch, JK Rowling & Marjorie Taylor Green, to the senators & priests & everyone else who harms kids & thinks it's politically expedient to project onto gentle families like mine to stir up their lucrative culture war.”
Pierce is referring to regular attacks on LGBTQ+ people.
Fox News has been pushing major talking points to defend bills being passed in multiple states attempting to ban any talk about gay or trans people.
While Florida was the first to pass a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Republican legislatures in other states are looking to do the same.
Children's author J.K. Rowling and GOP House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia were mentioned for their attacks on the trans community, bigotry that has become all too common.
All of this has been cloaked in claims that they just want to protect children from predators, while in actuality seeking to punish anyone who isn’t a cisgendered, straight man.
Which makes people ask what they do when they see these kinds of attacks in real life.
Pierce and his family are recovering, despite the emotional trauma. Sadly, bigoted rants aren’t uncommon for the family.
However, the accusations of pedophilia are.
“We've dealt with this brand of terrifying homophobic stranger before with our son. But ‘pedophiles’ and ‘rapists’ were new in the mix, at least out loud.”
As these anti-gay bills are passed, and defended by claims of protecting children from groomers, these types of attacks will only become more common.
