The GOP ‘grooming’ smear is sparking a new wave of anti-LGBT+ violence

Aurora was walking home past the K-Mart, listening to a podcast and minding her own business, when a stranger shoved her into the road and began to yell at her calling her a “groomer”.

There were two people, she says, one shorter and wearing a backpack, one taller and seemingly recording her with a smartphone, both hurling abuse and calling her a child predator as she crossed the street to get away.

“I’ve been transitioning for about eight or nine years now, and I have been assaulted and harassed by people on the street before. I have never been accused of sexually predatory behaviour,” says Aurora, a 34-year-old transgender woman studying to be a nurse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She asked for her surname not to be used because she fears for her safety.