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““Hate wins when people like me stand by and let it happen. I won’t.””
That was Democratic Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow responding to comments from a rival Republican who had suggested that McMorrow supports sexualizing children in a fundraising email.
Republican state Sen. Lana Theis, also from Michigan, insinuated that McMorrow, who is a parent, herself, wanted to “groom and sexualize kindergarteners” in a campaign email. And McMorrow responded in a Senate floor speech on Tuesday that has gone viral.
“I didn’t expect to wake up yesterday to the news that the senator from the 22nd district had, overnight, accused me by name of grooming and sexualizing children in an email fundraising for herself,” McMorrow said. “So I sat on it for a while wondering: Why me? And then I realized: Because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of ‘parental rights’ if another parent is standing up to say no.”
““I sat on it for a while wondering: Why me? And then I realized: Because I am the biggest threat to your hollow, hateful scheme. Because you can’t claim that you are targeting marginalized kids in the name of ‘parental rights’ if another parent is standing up to say no.””
McMorrow is referencing parts of a recent fundraising email from Theis, which was shared publicly by local media, that referred to McMorrow as a “groomer.” This is a term that describes a predatory adult who takes actions meant to reduce a child’s fears and inhibitions as a prelude to sexual abuse or exploitation by the predator, according to the Farlex medical dictionary.
The original fundraising email seemed to be written in the name of parental rights in schools, a major hot button issue at the moment.
Theis, who is facing a Republican primary challenge from the Trump-supported Mike Detmer, did not provide any evidence for any of these accusations. She was not immediately available for comment on this story.
The viral moment comes as the issue of schooling and what is taught in U.S. schools has been a talking point for many politicians ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Some of the most divisive topics include the merits of teaching critical race theory, or the role that teachers and schools play when issues of sexual orientation and gender identity come up.
The latter was a focal point in Florida’s new “Parental Rights in Education” law, informally known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. The law has drawn intense national scrutiny from those who argue that it marginalizes LGBTQ+ people.
McMorrow’s roughly 5-minute speech has already been watched more than 10.6 million times on her Twitter
TWTR,
account.
