Over 200 schools and teachers have been targeted this year by Libs of TikTok for teaching LGBTQ2S+ education, according to a new report.
Libs of TikTok, a conservative Twitter account, has tagged or named at least 222 pro-LGBTQ2s+ districts, school employees and educational organizations in 2022, per an April 28 study published by Media Matters. The progressive watchdog group reported that the account targeted a school district, a middle school and four teachers for teaching about gender or sexuality in the last week of April alone. One tweet from the account said that hanging a Pride flag in a classroom is “political propaganda.”
The Media Matters report details how Libs of TikTok, which a recent Washington Post exposé revealed is run by former Brooklyn realtor Chaya Raichik, smears its targets and compels its followers to harass educators. At least 18 tweets Raichik posted in March targeted a Pride Week celebration at Texas’ Austin Independent School District (ISD) decision, with some posts directly tagging its employees.
After the account singled out Austin ISD, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a March 22 letter to the district claiming that such celebrations violated state law.
Libs of TikTok particularly ridicules LGBTQ2S+ teachers, as previous reporting has indicated. According to the Washington Post, an Oklahoma teacher targeted by the account was fired from his job after expressing support for LGBTQ2S+ youth who lack family acceptance at home. Raichik once called for any teacher who comes out to their students “to be fired on the spot.”
Many of these tweets employ decades-old conservative propaganda to falsely link LGBTQ2S+ people with “grooming,” a phenomenon in which an abuser earns the trust of a victim and crosses normal boundaries to desensitize them to future abuse. Since November, Libs of TikTok has used language referring to “grooming” in at least 46 tweets, with those posts earning more than 220,000 likes, replies, retweets or quote tweets, according to Media Matters.
In March, Libs of TikTok amplified more anti-LGBTQ2S+ hate than any other account on Twitter. It earned at least 14,600 retweets on posts containing anti-LGBTQ2S+ language, as Media Matters reported at the time.
Despite—or perhaps because of—the danger Libs of TikTok poses to the LGBTQ2S+ community, the account has become massively influential in conservative circles. After right-wing podcast host Joe Rogan mentioned the account on his show, Raichik’s following soared. By May 2022, the account had a million followers, who include Ben Shapiro, Meghan McCain and Tucker Carlson, the latter of whom hosted Raichik on his show. Her tweets are regularly featured on the conservative cable network Fox News.
Libs of TikTok has used this influence to directly incite America’s wave of “Don’t Say Gay” bills, which seek to restrict LGBTQ2S+ education in schools. Christina Pushaw, the press secretary for Florida Gov. Rob DeSantis, has mentioned the account at least 97 times, according to Media Matters. Signed by DeSantis in March, Florida’s law bans teachers in K-3 classrooms from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity.
Twenty U.S. states have introduced “Don’t Say Gay” bills in 2022, and Alabama signed legislation similar to Florida’s into law last month. Even more proposals are likely to come: although the Texas Legislature meets every other year, its Republican lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, said he would make such a bill a “top priority” in 2023.
Ironically, Libs of TikTok has peddled the exact propaganda Raichik decries. In April, she tweeted out a fake Facebook post claiming Austin ISD was teaching students about furries. Even though the information was false, she has not removed the tweet.
Why you can trust Xtra
