The Permission Structure: Right-Wing Influencers and Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Plus: Patriot Front arrests, the utility of caring about January 6, and a roundup of recent work
When right-wing media figures and politicians attack members of the LGBTQ+ community, they know exactly what they’re doing—implicitly giving permission to their followers to commit acts of violence.
Media Matters researcher Ari Drennen joined the podcast this week to talk about the role of right-wing media figures and other prominent conservatives in pushing an anti-LGBTQ+ narrative. She explained that the “grooming” smear that’s been deployed against the community is giving extremists an open door for violence.
“If you're turning on your TV every day, or going on Twitter, going on your forums, and you're seeing your favorite newscaster and your favorite political officials saying really bad things are happening to children and somebody needs to do something about it—that creates the structure,” Drennen said.
Stephen Piggott, an analyst with the Western States Center, has also been following the pipeline of hate rhetoric from major right-wing figures to the streets. Far-right extremists love seeing their messaging being parroted by mainstream figures on networks like Fox and in Congress.
“These folks are absolutely delighted when their talking points, or something very close to what their talking points are, make it on Fox News,” Piggott said, adding that the audience those comments can reach leads to predictable extremism: “We know that hate speech can lead to hate violence.”
Listen to the full episode at the link.
Is there any utility in leftists taking the January 6 riot seriously? Or should they use the failed attempt at overturning the election as a way of exposing the insufficiency of the liberal response?
I posed this question to listeners on Tuesday and had some interesting discussions.
You can listen here.
NewsBolt, my project with Jordan Uhl, is an aggregation list for you posted three times a day. I urge you to give it a whirl!
My article on Russell Stover’s use of inmate workers was cited in an ACLU report on prison labor.
I wrote about the Cumberland County, Maine DA race for Bolts Mag.
And finally, my take on the underlying labor issues at the Washington Post.
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