Republican claimed LGBTQ+ book was ‘child porn’. She was reported to police for possession

.pn-single-post-wrapper__content-main a { background: linear-gradient(to right, rgba(245,104,109,0.4) 0, rgba(245,104,109,0.4) 100%); background-position: 0 -0.1em; background-size: 0 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat; }

Republican candidate Rayla Campbell was reportedly referred to police after she lied that an LGBTQ+ book she was holding had “child porn” in it.

Campbell, who is running for Massachusetts secretary of state, reportedly claimed that the book Gender Queer contained ‘child pornography’ at a ‘Back The Blue’ rally in Plymouth, Massachussetts.

The book is an illustrated memoir about an artist’s non-binary, asexual identity.

Shortly afterwards, Campbell was seen talking to a police officer, with a TikTok clip showing both Campbell and the officer flicking through the book.

Multiple sources have said that a police complaint was made that Campbell had, in effect, insinuated she was in possession of child porn.

We are hearing that Rayla Campbell was late to her own "Back the Blue Rally" due to being detained by police. She was showing people the book "Gender Queer" and saying it was child porn, so someone reported her for possession of child porn. pic.twitter.com/8okJ8xVT5U

— Fashalert MA (@FashalertMA) August 16, 2022

 

Local hate watchdog Fashalert MA posted a Twitter thread detailing the situation, saying that Campbell was “late to her own [campaign event]” because “someone reported her for possession of child porn”.

var unruly = window.unruly || {}; unruly.native = unruly.native || {}; unruly.native.siteId = 1068722;

Campbell invited supporters to the ‘Back The Blue’ rally, which saw an appearance by Joseph Imperatice, the founder of an organisation named Blue Lives Matter NYC, ahead of her own campaign kick-off event that same day.

Pro-LGBTQ+ activists and allies had attended the event to protest Campbell’s campaign, later moving on from the rally to her campaign event holding signs and Progress Pride flags.

Boston and Cape antifascists disrupts Rayla Campbell rally in Plymouth, happening now pic.twitter.com/QTQ7RK99sK

— Lita Xú Líng Kelley (@LitaKelley) August 15, 2022

One of the protesters wrote in a tweet: “When you lie and distort and attack good people, good parents, and good kids over and over for attention and political points, we’re gonna come say hi and set the record straight.

“There were more of us than supporters at Rayla Campbell’s campaign kickoff. Lots of awareness spread.”

Campbell has a history of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, and in June confronted a drag queen story hour hosted at a library in Holbrook over the Gender Queer book.

Campbell recorded the confrontation on Facebook, with footage showing pro-LGBTQ+ parents and activists trying to shield children from her.

“Ever notice how it’s never a woman cross-dressing like a man reading Gender Queer to little kids? Why is that?” Campbell wrote on Facebook, calling members of the public “belligerent, rude and secretive.”

Others interpreted the video as parents protecting their kids from a woman who, in a video published on Twitter on 21 May, said that school teachers were telling “your five-year-old that he can go and suck another 5-year-old’s d**k”.

More from PinkNews

Stars you didn’t know are LGBT+

Celebs you didn’t know have an LGBT sibling

The stars who went gay for pay

The Republican is known for her associations with the far-right anti-LGBTQ+ groups Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) and CORR, which both believe that the “rights of American citizens are being trampled on and under constant assault by globalist elites. SHFA in particular sports the tagline: “It’s great to be straight”.

She will run against incumbent Democrat William Galvin or Democrat challenger Tanisha Sullivan for the role of secretary of state. She is the only Republican on the ballot for the upcoming primary on 6 September, 2022.

Campbell has vowed to fight against the “flavour of communism and socialism” that she believes is “mixed in” with the politics of the region.