LGBT Center of Raleigh Gets Plastered With Antigay Stickers

This week, the LGBT Center of Raleigh, N.C., became the target of a disgusting homophobic smear campaign by antigay protestors.

The Center filed a police report after stickers were plastered across the Center's windows displaying various anti-LGBTQ statistics that are inflammatory and downright untrue about the queer community.

The stickers stated incorrectly that LGBTQ people are "67 percent of new HIV diagnoses," that we are "1/3 of child molestors," that we are "60 percent of syphilis infections," and that we are "52 percent non-monogamous."

Another sticker read that LGBTQ people are "so oppressed they enjoy global corporate sponsorship while being celebrated..." while claiming that LGBTQs "push their agenda on our children."

The stickers are part of a growing backlash agains the city's monthly event, Drag Queen Story Hour. The event has seen backlash since it began in June, and while protestors seemed to have quieted down, they reportedly started emerging again earlier this year.

The monthly event is held at various locations in Raleigh, and aims to bring children and families together to listen to stories being read aloud by local drag queens. According to its organizer, Elise Chenoweth, the protests started reappearing in January.

"They're coming to every event no matter where we go," Chenoweth told WTVD, Raleigh's ABC affiliate. "We bring stories of inclusion, diversity and kindness to children all over the area in Raleigh and surrounding areas. It's disappointing to me that these kids can't just go to a story hour and just enjoy it without having to walk past a bunch of people."

Chenoweth added that they're choosing "not to engage any of the protestors," saying they instead "turn our backs to them and put positivity on our faces."

"Our hope is always that, of course, it stays to stickers and words," Lindsey Lughes, executive director of the LGBT Center of Raleigh, said to WTVD. "We take safety precautions here at the center, of course, to make sure that we're prepared if it ever, if anybody ever were to try to escalate any of these things... It's just a reminder of why it's so important for us to continue to do the work we do to fight the prejudice that LGBTQ people face all the time."

"They say really inflammatory, completely inaccurate statistics," Lughes added. "A lot of the old tropes that we now know in 2020 are not true, but things about LGBTQ folks being more likely to contract HIV or harm children, all of that has been wildly, over and over again debunked... They're spreading inaccurate things. It's about the fact that this has a real impact on the LGBTQ+ people who see them."

The name "Hundred Handers" is plastered on the stickers, and as of today, local reporters are continuing to find information on that specific group but, given their anonymity, it's been hard to track.

Raleigh Police are currently investigating.