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Missouri Republican candidate burns LGBTQ+ books with flamethrower and posts the video online (exclusive)

books inclusive guides LGBTQ teens burned flamethrower MAGA Missouri secretary of state candidate Valentina Gomez

twitter @ValentinaForSOS

Valentina Gomez is facing growing backlash for an incendiary stunt against LGBTQ+ books. Queer rights groups are calling her out.

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A Republican political candidate in Missouri is receiving the attention she presumably sought after releasing an alarming video online.

Valentina Gomez, who is running for the GOP nomination for secretary of state, posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, advocating for the burning of books she deems inappropriate for children.

In the contentious video, Gomez is seen wielding a flamethrower against a pile of books, including titles such as Naked: Not Your Average Sex Encyclopedia by Myriam Daguzan Bernier and Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens by Kathy Belge, which she claims were sourced from a Missouri public library. Her post accompanying the video read, “When I’m Secretary of State, I will BURN all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children. MAGA. America First.”

The video, which has received over 864,000 views, showcases Gomez’s dramatic protest against what she perceives as harmful material — that is books on LGBTQ+ topics. The books aim to provide inclusive and honest guidance on sexuality and LGBTQ+ identity to teens.

books inclusive guides LGBTQ teens burned flamethrower MAGA Missouri secretary of state candidate Valentina Gomez twitter @ValentinaForSOS

Gomez’s rhetoric in the video, “This is what I will do to the grooming books when I become secretary of state,” followed by her act of burning the books, has alarmed LGBTQ+ rights groups, prompting concerns about censorship and the potential suppression of LGBTQ+ voices.

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GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis was sharply critical of Gomez’s post in a statement to The Advocate.

“Attention-seeking candidates like this are not great at reading the room: voters have resoundingly rejected book bans and candidates promising to ban books,” Ellis said.

According to an October Ipsos report, 78 percent of voters indicated they would be less likely to be inclined to support a candidate who supports book bans. Ipsos also reported last June that 52 percent of Republicans oppose book bans.

The end of the video features Gomez in tactical attire and brandishing what appears to be an AR-15-style weapon, which has intensified the controversy surrounding her campaign.

The video is part of a disturbing uptrend in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments sweeping across the United States. A comprehensive report by the Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD, covering the period from June 2022 to April 2023, documented a worrying surge in anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism. With at least 356 incidents identified, including harassment, vandalism, assault, and even a mass shooting, the findings underscore the reality of the threats facing the LGBTQ+ community today. This environment, marked by a significant number of incidents perpetrated by extremist groups and widespread across 46 states, reveals a broader, more hostile climate towards LGBTQ+ individuals. Notably, the report highlights the exploitation of the baseless “grooming” conspiracy theory, which was cited in at least 191 incidents.

“Encouraging violence and spreading disgusting rhetoric are two very real ways that endanger innocent people and children,” Ellis said about Gomez. “They also prove you have zero grasp on actual problems in your state or ideas to solve them.”

"Book burning has a long, dark history in this country and beyond, and this is clearly a desperate attempt to drum up attention and MAGA hysteria from a fringe political candidate. But the anti-LGBTQ+ smears being hurled by Ms. Gomez are the same smears that have had devastating consequences across the country, inflaming violence and harassment against LGBTQ+ people," said the Human Rights Campaign's Brandon Wolf in a statement to The Advocate. "Even X, which is increasingly a platform that promotes division and discrimination, flagged this video as hateful and rightly so. This hideous hate has no place in our politics.”

The post has also earned a rare rebuke from Elon Musk’s X platform, which has significantly decreased its moderation efforts around harmful content recently. The company flagged Gomez’s post with the disclaimer, “Visibility limited: this Post may violate X’s rules against Hateful Conduct,” and made it impossible to retweet or comment.

As the election approaches and the filing deadline of March 26 draws near, the debate over Gomez’s actions and her suitability for the role of secretary of state continues to intensify.

The election for the position is set for November 5, with the primary occurring on August 6. Gomez is competing against three other candidates within her party for the nomination.

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