Pushaw told The Washington Post LGBTQ people were not being singled out “because groomers can be of any orientation or identity.” The current iteration - broader and less extreme sounding - seeks to cast aspersions on and marginalize LGBTQ people and their supporters, replete with some calls to roll back gay rights, including same-sex marriage.
pizza restaurant at the center of the bizarre rumors faced threats and occasional violence from extreme believers. It seemed like a bad joke, except too many people took it seriously.
The rumors refused to die, no matter how many times they have been exposed as a sham. The current grooming canard is a direct descendant of the wild “ Pizzagate” conspiracy theory of child sex-trafficking, Satanic rituals and even cannibalism that surfaced in 2016 and targeted prominent Democrats. A “groomer” cultivates a relationship with a child to eventually exploit or abuse that child.
