How the ‘Grooming’ Smear Hurts Abuse Survivors

The GOP is labeling every queer or trans person a ‘groomer’ — and childhood sexual abuse survivors will pay the price

This is a very dramatic photo, but it is also what I look like watching Twitter. Photo by Artyom Kabajev on Unsplash

For the past week, I’ve been watching as the entire GOP strategy for the midterms slowly consolidates around the claim that existing as a trans or queer person makes one a danger to children; a sexual threat; a pedophile; a “groomer.”

The first hints of this strategy began with Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which Ron DeSantis’ spokesperson Christina Pushaw tried to rebrand as an “Anti-Grooming Bill.” Its roots, obviously, go much deeper — from the far-right “pedophile” fixations of QAnon to the obsessive concern-trolling about youth transition led by TERFs like Abigail Shrier.

However it started, it’s here now. It’s been frightening for me to watch this as a parent, and as a trans person. Above all, though, it’s been frightening to watch as someone who really has experienced violence and sexual assault, much of it in childhood. The language abused children need to describe their experience is being taken away from them, and corrupted, by people who want to do them harm.

Most conservatives understand that the “grooming” they accuse queer and trans people of doing is not the same as the…