Thread by @bschillace

I was interviewed by @washingtonpost about MTG’s vile use of ‘pedophile’ to attack her enemies. The article is below. Today I’m giving the #history of this term as anti-LGBTQ and #antisemitic, and it’s link to #fascism, eugenics, and Nazis. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…

One of the earliest fights for rights of #homosexuals/ #transgender was engaged by Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish doctor in Berlin, 1900-1930s. At the time, the term for what we consider ‘pedophiles’ was ‘pederasts.’ Conservative moralists would accuse any homosexual of pederasty.

They called homosexuals ‘immoral’ or ‘pathological.’ Hirschfeld explained homosexuality as an in-born natural condition. But Germany was deeply invested in culture of Männerbund and misogynistic masculinist rhetoric, which increasingly associated with nationalist sentiments.

Soon, these concepts merged with ideas of ‘German purity’ —antisemite Hans Blüher connected the idea of ‘effeminate homosexuals’ with Jewishness, and Männerbund with German-ness. He accused Jews of grooming and homosexuality/pederasty—that Jews were corrupting youth.

Then as now, right wing conservatives (Blüher called it the ‘conservative revolution’) used misinformation to stoke fears that Jewish people, homosexuals and others they didn’t approve were a danger to children. Calling them pedophiles was a way of turning people against them.

They wanted to destroy the image of homosexuals, transgender, but also any group that stood in their way (then: Jews/Social Democrats, now: transgender/Democrats). They do this by choosing a term rightly associated with monstrosity (pedophile) then label their opponents on repeat

Humans are about pattern recognition. If you see two things together often enough, you associate them. That’s their plan. The last thing the right wants is normalization of gay/trans parents with happy and healthy kids. Shouting ‘pedophile’ is a cheap trick. It worked for Nazis.