In QAnon mythology, the powerful web of satanic Democrats who prey sexually on children will end in a violent orgy of retribution, led by Donald Trump, called “The Storm.” With each passing day since Trump’s ouster and charges against January 6 insurrectionists go forward, the hope that reality would knock the wind from this murderous political fantasy, a kind of reworked Protocols of the Elders of Zion for the 21st century, has grown distant.
Quite the opposite is happening. This neo-fascist ideology has gone mainstream, retreating to state capitals while Democrats control a majority in Congress. There, they’re not only passing oppressive laws but sharpening the rhetoric against the opposition toward a new kind of “storm.”
At the same time, the grip of the anti-LGBTQ narrative on right-wing America beyond the walls of legislatures has been confirmed by a sustained surge in targeted online intimidation and threats against public sector workers falsely accused of “grooming” children for sexual exploitation.
In Alabama, the governor has approved a set of bills that, according to the Associated Press, “outlaw gender-affirming medications for transgender youths…and prohibiting early classroom instruction on sexual and gender identity,” the latter of which is based on the Florida bill. A Texas judge blocked a unilateral move by the governor to force state investigations into parents of trans children. Arizona has also outlawed gender affirming health care for youths.
For anyone who remembers Republican whining during the Obama administration about how public healthcare would mean government control over people’s medical treatment, the hypocrisy is thick.