In a stunning display of cognitive dissonance, a transgender Media Matters employee who is a vocal opponent of LGBTQ laws aimed at protecting children, strongly objected to being shown an illustration from a controversial school library book on Twitter, calling it “sexual harassment.”
Ari Drennen, the LGBTQ Program Director for Media Matters for America, attempted to defend Chelsea Clinton on Monday after she tweeted that banning LGBTQ books from school libraries is “nothing but harmful.”
“Over 50% of the attempted book bans last year involved books with LGBTQ+ characters & themes. Books are a vital way that children, adolescents and adults learn about themselves and our world. Bans such as these are nothing but harmful,” wrote Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
She linked to an NBC article with a cover photo of the book “Genderqueer,” which features explicit illustrations of gay sex between a minor and an adult, along with other contested books.
The American Library Association (ALA) announced last month that “Gender Queer” was the most “challenged” book of 2022, for the the second year in a row. The ALA defines a challenge as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”
Other top books being challenged include “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” “Flamer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” “Looking for Alaska,” “Lawn Boy” and “This Book Is Gay.”
“All the challenges are openly saying that young people should not be exposed to LGBTQ materials,” complained Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Clinton’s April 27 tweet was ratioed by hundreds of conservatives, many of whom posted images from “the LGBTQ materials” she had defended in her timeline. Twitter, meanwhile, added a community note to add “context” to her tweet: “‘Gender Queer,’ the book shown in the photo, features sexually explicit material. This book contains visual depictions of oral sex, masturbation and adult sexual contact with a minor,” the note reads.
These are the “banned books” to which you refer, Chelsea—pornographic books which are being offered to children in schools across the USA.
Why do you support the sexualization of our youth?
(📷: @libsoftiktok) pic.twitter.com/szJmM7Ep98
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) April 30, 2023
“The photo on the article you’re quoting features a book with explicit illustrations of sex acts, a book about incest, one a sex story about two 10 year old boys, one about a man raping and isolating a 12 year old girl, one about a teen girl who seduces a man who kidnaps her,” noted gay conservative writer and influencer Chad Felix Green.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon also commented on the post, tweeting: “Chelsea Clinton has come out in favor of child porn.”
Drennen responded to Dillon’s tweet with scorn. “Weird way to tell us you’re yanking it to children’s books, Seth,” the trans advocate wrote, in a tacit admission that the “children’s book” in question features sexual content.
Dillon fired back: “Imagine how sick and depraved you have to be to call this a children’s book.”
Drennen replied, “Hey Seth, I think you meant this for my DMs. You just sent me an unsolicited drawing of a blowjob.”
“Absolutely astonishing admission from Media Matters’ @AriDrennen,” noted Gays Against Groomers’ Mike Harlow. “This is the book Gender Queer that Democrats think belongs in schools. So she thinks a grown adult shouldn’t have to see this unsolicitedly — but CHILDREN should. Unbelievable.”
Absolutely astonishing admission from Media Matters’ @AriDrennen. This is the book Gender Queer that Democrats think belongs in schools. So she thinks a grown adult shouldn’t have to see this unsolicitedly — but CHILDREN should. Unbelievable. 🤯 @SethDillon pic.twitter.com/FMD3LMHpJu
— Mike Harlow (@NotMikeHarlow) May 2, 2023
When another Twitter user asked Drennen to explain why he was defending gay porn in school libraries, the Media Matters LGBTQ director responded with a veiled threat.
“Yeah what you’re doing is called “sexual harassment” and would get you fired from most jobs, hope that helps,” Drennen responded.
On May 13, Drennen is scheduled to host a webinar on the “Right-Wing Media and Anti-Trans Panic” for Secular Arizona’s “Who’s Grooming Who: Calling Out Religious Hypocrisy” speaker series.