Deranged Christian nationalist protesters call Target shoppers “pedophiles” in shocking videos

My Children’s Advocate — an anti-LGBTQ+ “parents’ rights” group in Reno, Nevada — has shared video of activists harassing people in a Target parking lot, presumably over the store’s Pride-themed merchandise. In several related videos, the Target protesters call shoppers “pedophiles.”

In early June, anti-LGBTQ+ activists congregated outside of several Las Vegas-area Target retail stores holding signs that said, “Stop targeting children.” One activist held a sign that claimed that children can have “sex change surgery” at age five. The claim is untrue as gender-affirming genital surgeries aren’t conducted on minors, and no gender-affirming surgery is conducted on five-year-olds.

Related:

Lil Nas X mocks rightwing outrage over Target’s Pride collection

If the recent anti-LGBTQ+ backlash wasn’t so disturbing, it would almost be… funny.

The group’s Instagram page is filled with transphobic memes, including one comparing trans people to Nazis, another claiming that President Joe Biden supports the “chemical castration and mutilation of children,” and yet another claiming that “child transgenderism will pave the way for accepting pedophilia” (echoing a claim recently made by Fox News).

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The My Children’s Advocate website firmly opposes LGBTQ+- and racially-inclusive education as well as school facemask policies for preventing the spread of COVID-19. The website says that it seeks to “eradicate the social justice infiltration of public schools [and] return [to] Patriotic education.” It adds, “Our goal is to preserve the innocence of our children, to stand up for the Christian family values that are the soul of this nation.”

“We believe the discussion of topics pertaining to social issues have no place in a classroom, and should be navigated under the guidance and discretion of the family belief system at home,” the website states. The site is filled with other Christian nationalist rhetoric, including assertions that there should be no separation between the Christian church and the U.S. government.

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A post shared by My Children’s Advocate (@mychildrensadvocate)

In one video of the Target protesters, a pot-bellied older man wearing a “We the People” t-shirt complains that athletes who kneeled to protest racism during the playing of the National Anthem led to “the gay stuff.”

“I was watching a baseball game and they were flashing some Satanic symbols on the background,” he claims. “It was a Cubs game.”

Nevada man protesting Target claims athletes taking a knee led to all “the gay stuff.” pic.twitter.com/XPBff8Mx29

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 15, 2023

In another video, a woman screams, “No one needs to know who you’re sexually attracted to! Your sexual preference is not a topic for children!”

One woman screams, “Why do you talk about how you have sex to get everybody else to validate you?”

A man yells, “Why do you support pedophilia?”

A woman says, “Why do you need my child to validate your sex life?”

Another laughs, “Do you have sex with kids?”

Anti-Target protesters calling shoppers pedophiles, and yelling at someone walking to the store while wearing a mask. pic.twitter.com/h9Mnk2qinM

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 15, 2023

In another video, a man named Johnny who is seated on a motorcycle says, “My quote from Rage Against the Machine, ‘If you don’t take action now, you settle for nothing later.’ It’s that simple…. It’s time to take the power back.”

A woman recording the video says, “Yep, take it all back. Take the rainbow back too.”

Johnny then says, while putting on his helmet, “I’m going to ride up and down and mutter to people, ‘Don’t take your kids to Target.'”

Despite the band’s right-wing fans, Rage Against the Machine’s lyrics and public statements have long railed against white supremacy, fascism, and anti-abortion politics. The band also supports vaccination against COVID-19, something opposed by many far-right conspiracy theorists.

Anti-Target protester said Rage Against the Machine lyrics inspired him to ride around the parking lot and tell parents not to take their kids to Target. pic.twitter.com/bvfSZHA7Rr

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) June 15, 2023

In April 2022, a leader of the group named Stephanie Kinsley was kicked out of a Clark County School Board meeting after implying that public school teachers were having sex with students during trips to Disneyland.

“Disney is, we’re finding out, super creepy and weird,” Kinsley said, “California allows you to have sex with kids as long as there’s a ten-year or less age difference, that that’s where we’re taking our kids? With our sexually confused teachers who don’t have children of their own?”

“Take control of your children, don’t let everyone ejaculate, control your own body, don’t have abortions. Planned Parenthood was founded to kill minorities,” she yelled. As police escorted her from the meeting, she accused one of the board members of secretly keeping “a box of pubic hair,” Newsweek reported.

A leader of a parent group that supports Nevada Republican candidates got kicked out of the Clark County School Board meeting after going off topic to imply teachers are having sexual relationships with students during trips to Disneyland. pic.twitter.com/heGojT6u3d

— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) April 29, 2022