LGBTQ+ resources removed from state website after right-wing media pressure: ‘Craven and politically motivated’

Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration quietly removed information about services for LGBTQ+ youth from a state website after the Daily Wire published stories about it.

In May, the right-wing media outlet, co-founded by anti-LGBTQ+ commentator Ben Shapiro, raised questions about online resources offering services for queer youth linked to the Virginia Department of Health’s website. 

One site, Queer Kid Stuff, provides informative entertainment to LGBTQ+ kids, parents, educators and allies. The other, Q Chat Stuff, offers live, facilitated chats for LGBTQ+ and questioning teens. 

The Daily Wire’s inquiry about the websites on 31 May appeared to set off alarm bells, and, within hours, the state government had removed the entire LGBTQ Resources for Youth page.

However, the decision elicited confusion from department leaders who hadn’t been informed or consulted about the decision, according to internal emails provided to the Virginia Mercury and published in the news recently.  

“Did someone request this?” asked Emily Yeatts, a supervisor for the Department of Health’s Division of Child and Family Health in a 31 May email to staff. “This request did not come from the program.” 

Vanessa Walker Harris, director of the Office of Family Health Services (the office responsible for managing content on the page), expressed similar concerns in another email saying that the webpage was “no longer accessible”. 

“I’m noticing that the referenced webpage is no longer accessible and I’m having a bad case of deja vu,” Walker Harris wrote. 

“What am I missing? I’m very concerned that staff were directed to remove the webpage without engaging [subject matter experts] in response to a politically motivated inquiry, yet again.”

Youngkin’s administration has removed information from the government health website without consulting its own subject matter experts at least three times in the last year and a half since he took office, according to the Washington Post. 

Information about abortions, sexual health, pregnancy and more have all been stripped from the website.

The removal of the LGBTQ+ youth resources page was ordered by the office of Health and Human Resources secretary John Littel after the Daily Wire inquiry, the Virginia Mercury reported. 

Youngkin spokesperson Macaulay Porter said the decision was part of the Republican governor’s emphasis on parents’ rights. 

“In Virginia, the governor will always reaffirm a parent’s role in their child’s life. Children belong to their parents, not the state,” Porter said. 

“The governor supports providing resources that are age appropriate however the government should not facilitate anonymous conversations between adults and children without a parent’s approval. Sexualising children against a parent’s wishes doesn’t belong on a taxpayer supported website.”

But Equality Virginia said that taking down the LGBTQ+ resources from the government website page was “craven and politically motivated”.

“This is part of a pattern with this administration, where it’s more important to appeal to an anti-LGBTQ+ political base rather than serve LGBTQ+ Virginians in any capacity,” Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia, said. 

Conservative politicians and right-wing groups have repeatedly attacked LGBTQ+ rights under the guise of protecting familial rights or safeguarding children. 

Governor Ron DeSantis argued his reviled ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, which restricts discussions on LGBTQ+ issues in Florida schools, was to protect children and ensure the rights of parents. 

Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is known for her extreme, far-right views, has made multiple inflammatory statements accusing LGBTQ+ people and allies of ‘sexualising’ or ‘grooming’ children because they support queer rights. 

Conservatives have similarly rallied against the inclusion of LGBTQ+ books in schools and holding family-friendly drag queen story time events.