Alison Sullivan
A man named Robbie Pierce has gone viral online for sharing a first-hand account of what the LGBTQ+ community is experiencing right now as anti-trans and anti-gay bills are being pushed all across the country.
It may seem abstract if you are not directly affected by it, but Pierce is a gay man with a husband and two children, and he recently experienced just how horrible this promotion of bigotry can get in real life. In a long Twitter thread, Pierce claimed that he and his family were together on the Amtrak for a family vacation. Then, all of the sudden, a stranger started yelling at his son, telling him his dads “stole” him and that they are “pedophiles.”
Of course, Pierce stepped in, but the situation only escalated. Pierce told the man to get away from his family, to which the deranged stranger replied, “Family!? That’s not a family! You’re rapists. You steal black and Asian kids.”
As the two children cried, the bigot continued, “These guys aren’t natural. Homosexuals are an abomination. They steal and rape kids.”
The attack shocked Pierce, but it made the reality of politics in this country all too easy to understand.
Even so, he actually had some sympathy for the man, who he said was clearly not receiving the “resources” he needs.
But the man had actually already approached Pierce’s son once when he was by himself by the bathroom, making the groomer accusation disgustingly ironic.
Pierce ended his thread with a plea to people to do something to stand up to these attacks on queer identity and the toxic GOP talking point insinuating that queer people are “groomers” and “pedophiles.”
He and his husband were able to get away because the conductor stepped in to distract the man. And standing up for others is what’s necessary now.
As the stranger yelled, the children started crying. Eventually, the conductor distracted the bigoted stranger, and the family was able to get away.