California Governor Gavin Newsom recently went viral on social media after making a false statement about a city in Tennessee supposedly banning public displays of homosexuality.
In a post on X, Newsom declared, “A city in Tennessee has banned being gay in public. This is just the beginning. We have to call this out,” accompanied by a link to an article by the New Republic.
However, social media users promptly fact-checked Newsom’s claim by pointing to the actual ordinance passed by the Murfreesboro city council in June. The ordinance primarily focused on prohibiting indecent exposure and lewd behavior, including sexual conduct, in public spaces. Notably, the term “homosexuality” was initially part of the city code’s discussion on sexual conduct but was subsequently removed by the city council.
The ordinance explicitly states, “No person shall knowingly while in a public space engage in indecent behavior, display, distribute, or broadcast indecent material, conduct indecent events, or facilitate any of the foregoing prohibited acts, or otherwise subject minors to a prurient interest or to behaviors, materials, or events that are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors.”
Newsom’s intentional misrepresentation of a conservative city ordinance is not an isolated incident among leftists. Similar instances have occurred when liberal politicians, including Newsom, falsely accused conservative states of banning books in schools. In reality, the measures were aimed at restricting access to pornographic literature in educational settings. This tactic was also employed in the controversy surrounding Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill, where misinformation circulated about the actual content and intent of the legislation.
