Bay Area LGBTQ community fears Rep. Greene's homophobic slur will encourage more violence
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Far right Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene's anti-LGBTQ slur on Twitter has struck fear in the Bay Area's LGBTQ community.
State Senator Scott Wiener says he's watching his back, after the Georgia representative hurled an anti-LGBTQ slur at him on Twitter, calling him a "groomer."
"When someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene attacks me, in this case calls me a communist groomer, I do have to be more vigilant," he said.
The term groomer, which refers to adults who build relationships with children in an effort to abuse them, has been used by some on the far right against LGBTQ people, trading on an old stereotype that gays are predators.
It all started a week ago, when Wiener tweeted, "the word groomer is categorically an anti-LGBTQ hate word."
That's when Greene, who had just been allowed back on Twitter by Elon Musk, attacked him.
Wiener says since Greene's tweet, he's been inundated with attacks on social media calling him a pedophile. But his biggest worry is that it could encourage some on the fringe to hurt him or others in the LGBTQ community.
"Hate rhetoric, particularly coming from people in power, directly leads to violence," he said.
The slur came just days after a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay club that killed 5 people and injured many more. Now some in the LGBTQ community are worried Greene's words could inspire yet more assaults.
"Being in a place that's very gay, we're kind of reminded that we have to constantly be on alert and we're never really safe," said Zachary Olson, a software engineer from The Castro.
Suzanne Ford, the interim executive director of San Francisco Pride, said that in the last few days her office has been flooded with calls from people worried about their safety.
"The tone of people is discouraged, hurting and it's terrible," she said.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of all of this, Wiener said, is watching his community come together.
"We know that we have to stick up for ourselves and be united and we're doing that."