As the visibility of LGBTQ+ people has risen in many countries in the last decade, so too has a backlash from conservative parts of societies, fuelled in many cases by far-right activists and politicians using gay and transgender people as scapegoats for other problems. There is a growing weaponisation of hate, said Alberto de Belaunde, a director at Outright International, an NGO that promotes LGBTQ+ rights globally.
Mace, who announced her gubernatorial bid on August 4 with anti- LGBTQ+ rhetoric and declared herself a "proud transphobe," had advertised that more than 100 people would attend a Moms for Liberty event at Forward Church on Thursday. But at the scheduled start time, rows of empty chairs greeted her. Only eight attendees were present, not including reporters and security, according to My Horry News.
