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Erin Mazzoni, a campaign staffer for Gabrielle Hanson, a Republican mayoral candidate in Franklin, Tennessee, is facing significant criticism after making false claims about an LGBTQ+ youth organization during a speech to the Franklin Board of Mayor & Aldermen (BOMA).
In her speech, Mazzoni alleged that LGBTQ+ people in Bucks County, Pennsylvania were providing children with explicit materials and "training them" on their use, causing the community to "fall apart." She specifically referred to the Lower Bucks Rainbow Room, an LGBTQ+ youth organization that offers support to LGBTQ+ youth aged 14 to 21 in a church setting.
Mazzoni claimed that children aged eight to 12 were given butt plugs and "training," and she criticized the group for receiving a grant of $630,000 to continue such activities, ignoring the fact that the group received state funds in recognition of the "immense benefit" their organization provides LGBTQ+ youth and their families.
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Mazzoni said:
“Our entire community up north fell apart, it was like watching a bad car accident for three years straight. It started out as Pride coming in, and I thought everything would be OK. And it ended with a Rainbow Room where eight- to 12-year-old kids were given butt plugs and dildos and trained.”
“They just got a city grant for $630,000 to be able to do more training on children. It was horrendous!"
Mazzoni claimed all of her conservative friends are leaving the area in protest against the Rainbow Room:
“And it is a very good tax base. These conservatives are good tax-base people. It was absolutely horrible to watch.”
There is no credible information to support these allegations and news outlets have not found any evidence of the Rainbow Room engaging in such activities.
The attacks offer a further example of the ongoing "groomer" hysteria that has gripped the right-wing, who've accused LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
Mazzoni's speech has been widely mocked.
Neither Mazzoni nor Hanson are known for their honesty.
The duo recently came under fire for using photos of women taken from social media without their consent and falsely claimed that the women supported Hanson's candidacy for Mayor.
When confronted with this, Hanson insisted that the women in the photo were her "friends" who had "relocated" to the area and "supported" her, despite the women themselves denying any knowledge of her or her campaign.