Dangerous rhetoric played a part in LGBTQ shooting Letters

To the editor:

In Colorado, five are dead, more than a dozen injured, and countless more are terrorized by yet another act of homophobic violence.

In this endless political season, conservatives, desperate for ways to stir fear and hate, have once again found that LGBTQ folks can be easy targets. Easy targets for political rhetoric become easy targets for violence. You don’t get one without the other.

There is an undeniable link between irresponsible political talk and violence. So, I’m looking at you, Jim Baribeault, and your Citizens for Responsible Education.

I’m looking at Ron DeSantis and “Don’t Say Gay.” I’m looking at Parents Defending Education and Moms for Liberty. They’re all responsible because they’ve all been promoting the same falsehood: That young people can be influenced into becoming gay or transgender simply by exposing them to gay or trans-positive messages.

This is not and has never been true. But it’s been the basis for their argument.

They’ve been using language like grooming a word once reserved for predators and pedophiles. They’ve been warning of a cultural decline. They’ve been linking academic performance to pro-LGBTQ teachers. All under the banner of protecting children.

Heavily armed Proud Boys are showing up at drag queen story hours. A business that hosted a drag event in Tulsa was firebombed. A local dance was threatened with being canceled. And now five more people are dead.

BRUCE DEVEAU Amesbury