A gay dad related a horrifying story that he says is a result of the GOP attacking LGBTQ people as pedophiles and education about LGBTQ people as “grooming.”
Robbie Pierce wrote about what happened to him, his husband, and their six- and five-year-old children while riding on an Amtrak train. Pierce said they were approached by a man they didn’t know who shouted at the six-year-old: “Remember what I told you. They stole you. They’re pedophiles.”
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Pierce told the man to “get away from my family,” and the man allegedly responded: “Family? That’s not a family! You’re both rapists. You steal Black and Asian kids.”
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“You guys aren’t natural,” the man continued as the children cried. “Homosexuals are an abomination. They steal and rape kids.”
Pierce said that he took the kids to another car while his husband dealt with the man. A conductor came and further distracted the man.
He said that his children “cried for almost an hour.” During that time, he asked his son if he had seen the man before and the son said that the man had already confronted him when he went to the bathroom.
“Yet we’re the groomers,” Pierce wrote sardonically.
According to Pierce, no one in the car helped. Several people gave what he called “sympathetic looks” or came up to him later to apologize.
The man was arrested for refusing to leave the train, according to Pierce.
Pierce said that this isn’t the first time he and his family have been shouted at by homophobic strangers, but this is the first time that they have been called pedophiles, something he believes is a product of the current political climate.
“We’ve dealt with this brand of terrifying homophobic stranger before with our son,” he wrote. “But ‘pedophiles’ and ‘rapists’ were new in the mix, at least out loud.”
“We all know where that comes from. So thanks to Fox [News and CEO Rupert] Murdoch, JK Rowling [and Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Green, to the senators and priests and everyone else who harms kids and thinks it’s politically expedient to project onto gentle families like mine to stir up their lucrative culture war.”
Well that didn't take long. We decided to take a trip on Amtrak with the kids for spring break. 9 hours into a pleasant ride, a man was suddenly standing next to me, shouting across me at my 6yo son, "Remember what I told you. They stole you. They're pedophiles." 🧵
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
"Family!? That's not a family! You're rapists. You steal black & Asian kids." My son and my 5yo daughter were both now openly crying, petrified. He yelled right at them, unmoved: "These guys aren't natural. Homosexuals are an abomination. They steal and rape kids." [3/10]
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
I grabbed the kids and moved them to another car while my ferocious husband went into papa bear mode and shouted the man away from us. Eventually the conductor arrived and the man lost his focus on us. [5/10]
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
This man was clearly angry at an unjust world; we have that in common. He's clearly not receiving the resources he needs. We've dealt with this brand of terrifying homophobic stranger before with our son. But "pedophiles" and "rapists" were new in the mix, at least out loud. 7/10
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
I asked my son if he'd seen the man before. He said the man had confronted him when we let him go to the bathroom alone, which he'd been so proud to do @ 1st but too afraid to do again after. Yet *we're* the groomers. 😣 I'm livid & ashamed that I didn't notice something was up.
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
To be clear, as much as we need people standing up for us in such moments of confrontation, we need allies to shut down this rhetoric everywhere it rears its ugly head anywhere, especially when we're not there. Don't vote for them or support their art or avoid confrontation.
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
Thank you. ♥️ A lot of people nearby sent sympathetic looks or later told us sorry that happened which is nice (?) but they all just sat with their heads down while it was going on. I get how disorienting it can be, but we really need to be better at taking action for each other.
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
He was, after refusing to exit the train.
— Robbie 🌮🦝 (@Robbiepierce) April 13, 2022
