Human Rights Campaign Commends White House for Hosting Summit to Combat Extremist Violence

The "United We Stand Summit" Will be Held on September 15

Recent HRC Report Highlights the Rise of Extremist, Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric on Social Media

WASHINGTON - August 19, 2022 - Today, the White House announced it would host the "United We Stand Summit," an event to combat the spread of extremist violence and misinformation. The Summit comes at a time when hate-driven violence against people of color and LGBTQ+ people is on the rise. In just the last few months, 10 Black people were killed at a shooting in Buffalo, New York; white nationalists targeted a Pride event in Idaho; Proud Boys crashed Drag Queen story hour at a local library in California to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs; and Boston Children's Hospital's patients and providers have found themselves the targets of violent threats following a campaign of disinformation on Twitter.

In response, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Interim President Joni Madison issued the following statement:

"We are living in a time of polarization and extremism, with dangerous, extremist rhetoric on the rise. We have seen a marked increase in online vitriol against LGBTQ+ people that has led to acts of intimidation and violence in real life - not to mention an increase in state legislation that targets the LGBTQ+ community. The rise of this online hate does not have only political implications; violent rhetoric leads to stigma, radicalization, and ultimately violent actions. Nearly one-in-five of any type of hate crime is now motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias, and the last two years have been the deadliest for transgender people, particularly Black transgender women.

"The "United We Stand Summit" cannot come at a more crucial time, and the Human Rights Campaign is grateful to President Biden for focusing on this key issue and convening this event. We look forward to joining with other leaders to combat the rise of extremism and violence."

HRC recently released a report, Digital Hate: Social Media's Role in Amplifying Dangerous Lies About LGBTQ+ People, alongside the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) that explicitly noted the rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric online. The report found that the average number of tweets per day using slurs such as "groomer" and "pedophile" in relation to LGBTQ+ people surged by 406% in the month after the Florida "Don't Say Gay or Trans" bill was passed, resulting in a sharp spike in online homophobia and transphobia. The report also reveals that the anti-LGBTQ+ content was largely driven by a small group of extremist politicians and their allies who together are driving a coordinated and concerted campaign to attack LGBTQ+ kids in an effort to rile up extreme members of their base ahead of the midterm elections.

According to the report's findings:

• In a matter of mere days, just ten people drove 66% of impressions for the 500 most viewed hateful "grooming" tweets - including Gov. Ron DeSantis's press secretary Christina Pushaw, extremist members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, and pro-Trump activists like "Libs of TikTok" founder Chaya Raicheck.
• Posts from these 10 people alone reached more than 48 million views, and the top 500 most influential "grooming" tweets all together were seen 72 million times.

The report also notes that there are real life consequences to anti-LGBTQ+ hate being spread online.

• Anti-LGBTQ+ Violence - Nearly 1 in 5 of any type of hate crime is now motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ bias; The last two years have been the deadliest for transgender people, especially Black transgender women, we have seen since we began tracking fatal violence against the community.
• Reports of violence and intimidation against LGBTQ+ people have been making news across the country: White nationalists targeted a Pride event in Idaho; Proud Boys crashed Drag Queen story hour at a local library in California to shout homophobic and transphobic slurs; and Boston Children's Hospital's patients and providers have found themselves the targets of violent threats following a campaign of disinformation on Twitter.
• Legislative - Legislators in state houses across the country introduced 344 anti-LGBTQ+ bills this session, and 25 of them passed. These bills and laws attack the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender and non-binary young people and their families, preventing them from accessing age-appropriate medical care, playing sports with their friends, or even talking about who they are in school.
• Mental Health Outcomes: More than 60 percent of LGBTQ+ youth said their mental health has deteriorated as a result of recent efforts to restrict access to things like gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Read the full report here.

The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community