Missouri Republican Candidate Valentina Gomez Burns LGBTQ+ Books In Viral Video (image@ VlentinaForSOS)
Valentina Gomez, a 24-year-old candidate running for Secretary of State of Missouri, shared a video of herself on the social media platforms. The video showed herself holding a flamethrower to torch a stack of books, which were reportedly books about LGBTQ+ community. She wrote on her social media that if she becomes the Secretary of State, she will burn books that “are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children”.
In her video, she was heard as saying, “This is what I will do to grooming books when I become Secretary of State”. He video had an intense rap music playing in the background.
After burning the books, she said, “these books come from Missouri Public Library…when I am in office, they will burn”. At the end of the video, it featured a picture of herself holding a large gun.
When I’m Secretary of State, I will 🔥BURN🔥all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children. MAGA. America First🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/m8waKi3yhP
— Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForSOS) February 6, 2024
One among the book that Gomez burned was “Naked: Not Your Average Sex Encyclopedia”, which was written by Mariam Daguzan Bernier. The other book was “Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ+ Guide for Teens”.
The visibility of the video was limited by X, as it violated the social media site’s rules against hateful conduct.
Valentina Gomez’s book burning video is part of a larger national trend on Missouri’s conservative candidates and lawmakers targeting books to LGBTQ+, claiming that they are a form of “indoctrination”, and harmful for children. Some candidates including Gomez described the LGBTQ+ inclusive books and curricula as sexually grooming children and invoking a decades old false moral panic about LGBTQ people.
In the 2022-23 academic year, Missouri banned 333 books, as per PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in literature. Sixteen states have laws that restrict how sexuality and gender identity can be discussed or taught in schools. Among this, seven states barred discussions of LGBTQ people or topics in some or all grade levels.
