Conservative mother slammed for online tirade against queer youth group Minus18

Conservative mother slammed for online tirade against queer youth group Minus18
Image: Delsi Moleta. Photo: supplied.

Notorious Facebooker ‘Political Posting Mumma’, who is vocally against marriage equality and Safe Schools, has turned on LGBTI youth organisation Minus18.

Political Posting Mumma is the online persona of suburban blogger Marijke Rancie.

In a post attacking and shaming the organisation’s events producer Delsi Moleta, Rancie shared and criticised photos from her Facebook page.

“Sorry for the nudity,” wrote Rancie, of a now-removed selfie where Moleta’s nipples were visible through a mesh shirt.

“This was her Facebook profile picture. She’s obviously comfortable with it. I’m not.”

Rancie criticised the mild state of undress—including someone wearing a leotard and tights, and a single visible male nipple—visible in some event photos on Moleta’s page.

“Gone are the days of the police supervised blue light discos. Welcome to 2017! This is how we roll now. Like soooo progressive,” she wrote.

“Hold on to your hats this is the start of a rabbit hole that is pretty sick and twisted to your average Australian family.”

Minus18 issued a response on their own page, comparing the attack to “revenge porn”.

“Today a right-wing anti-LGBTIQ page posted a personal, nude photo that a member of our team took,” they wrote.

“The narrative is too often the same—anti-LGBTIQ groups attempt to paint queer people as sinister or corrupt—and that you can somehow be taught how to be queer.

“The real issue here is the violation of privacy and consent—not someone taking a photo of themselves.

“We’re stronger than ever before and work to tirelessly support the LGBTIQ youth of Australia.”

In Rancie’s “furious” response she denied being anti-LGBTIQ.

“Speaking against this disgusting program is not hate speech,” she wrote.

“As for the threat of revenge porn, they called it that, not me.

“This person has access to our minors.”

Moleta told Star Observer the attack from the conservative Facebooker has been upsetting.

“I don’t really know how to feel about it,” she said.

“Initially I cried, then I laughed—this is ridiculous. But the more it gains traction and the more people say hurtful things about me, the more I feel concerned about the world.

“If these are parents of young people, there’s a 10 per cent chance that their kid might be queer. What’s that going to be like for them?”

Moleta said she will be reporting Rancie’s non-consensual sharing of her photos to the police.

She asked for anyone who wants to defend her on Facebook to focus on speaking positively of her work rather than attacking back in anger.

Minus18 CEO Micah Scott spoke out against Rancie’s attacks.

“We deplore abuse and harassment in any form, and our mission is to stand up against the daily queerphobia that our most vulnerable experience,” he said.

“The use of a Minus18 staff member’s personal images by an anti-LGBTIQ page is a continuation of the same sinister tactics used during the anti–Safe Schools and marriage equality campaigns.

“Online bullying and harassment are daily struggles for LGBTIQ young people, and research shows this clearly leads to higher rates of mental health problems and suicide within our community.

“This is just the beginning, and we have no doubt more abuse and harassment is yet to come.”

Scott said Minus18 relies on donations to support LGBTIQ youth, and is asking the community to donate to its Queer Formal, allowing queer and trans young people a night to celebrate and be themselves.

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4 responses to “Conservative mother slammed for online tirade against queer youth group Minus18”

  1. PPM has stated on her FB forum that “I’m going after Minus18”. So expect a lot more of this from her.