Bi Lawmaker Sues Over Being Called “Groomer” for Supporting Trans Son
A bisexual Nebraska lawmaker with a trans son is suing a Right-wing group that has repeatedly called her a "groomer" for defamation.
A Nebraska state senator is suing a conservative political action committee for defamation after it called her a “groomer” on Twitter, prompting some users to threaten to harm or maim her or even kidnap her 13-year-old child.
According to the complaint, filed in Douglas County District Court last week, the Nebraska Freedom Coalition slammed State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, a progressive who was previously affiliated with the Democratic Party but has since become an independent, for opposing a proposed ban on gender-affirming care.
Hunt was one of three lawmakers who mounted a several months-long filibuster that effectively slow-walked the legislative agenda for the state’s unicameral, technically nonpartisan, legislature for this year’s session.
The filibuster ended after Republican-affiliated lawmakers found enough votes to overcome it by proposing a watered-down version of the ban, signed into law by Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, prohibiting surgical and hormonal interventions for all people under 19.
It does contain a few rare exceptions for patients suffering from “long-lasting” and “intense” gender dysphoria, and those who started hormone therapy or puberty blockers before the law takes effect on Oct. 1.
Supporters of the ban, including Pillen, have argued that minors — defined as anyone under 19 in Nebraska — are being forced into making unwise, irreversible medical decisions before they’re old enough to accept the consequences of their actions.
They have also alleged that practitioners of gender-affirming care falsely portray hormonal or surgical interventions as simple, one-step solutions to minors’ feelings of gender dysphoria, isolation, or depression.
During the debate in the legislature, Hunt shared that her 13-year-old son was transgender and would be affected by the proposed restrictions on gender-affirming care because the bill’s exception for some patients would not apply to him.
According to Reckon, Hunt’s medical insurance — and her child’s — is provided by Medicaid, which is prohibited from covering gender-affirming care under the recently approved law.
Based on Hunt’s remarks on the legislature floor, she estimates that such medical interventions — even if they weren’t prohibited — would total at least $7,000 in out-of-pocket costs without insurance.
Due to her vocal opposition to the bill, Hunt was hit with a complaint alleging that, as the mother of a trans-identifying child on Medicaid, she had a “conflict of interest” because she might financially “benefit” if the bill failed and Medicaid were permitted or required to cover the cost of gender-affirming treatments for her child.
The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission began a preliminary investigation in late March in response to the complaint. Ultimately, all eight members of the commission found that there was “no probably cause” to believe Hunt had violated ethical or conflict-of-interest laws, according to the Omaha World Herald.
Due to Hunt’s role in the filibuster, she was attacked by many on the political Right, including by the socially conservative Nebraska Freedom Coalition, which has been involved in the push for right-wing legislation.
The NFC called Hunt a “groomer” in a tweet published on March 22, which included a childhood photo of her now-transgender son.
The group subsequently published a tweet mocking her and another lawmaker for the filibuster, saying Hunt’s skills included “grooming children, including her own.”
According to the complaint suing the NFC for defamation, Hunt alleges that the tweets caused her emotional distress and made her fear for her safety and that of her child.
“These malicious and false lies about Hunt had vicious consequences,” the complaint states. “After the Coalition’s posts accusing Hunt of abusing and grooming her child she was called a groomer on Twitter no fewer than 231 times. She received 25 phones calls calling her a groomer and/or pedophile, and 34 emails accusing her of the same and often unfit to be a mother.
“One email suggested that Hunt’s genitalia should be cut off and threatened physical harm,” the complaint continues. “Another indicated that she should be publicly executed while another provided her home address and stated her son should be kidnapped.”
The complaint notes that in 2020, Mattieo Condoluci, an actual convicted pedophile, was killed by a vigilante. As such, the complaint argues, any reasonable person called a “groomer” or “pedophile” publicly would experience distress and might genuinely worry that someone might similarly seek to harm them over false accusations similar to those lodged against Hunt.
The complaint — which names not only the NFC but officers Malia Shirley, Patrick Peterson, and Robert Anthony, as defendants — also notes that even though Hunt has demanded the NFC retract its tweets, the organization has refused to do so, and has continued to produce tweets accusing Hunt of being a “groomer.”
“What’s happening to Senator Hunt is a trend across the country of accusing people of being sexual predators with no basis in fact,” Adam Morfeld, a former state senator and attorney who works for the Nebraska Legal Action Fund and is representing Hunt, told Courthouse News. “So far, they have gotten away with it with impunity and we are bringing accountability.
“Calling someone a pedophile, and having no basis in truth to it, can lead to people being killed,” Morfeld added. “You simply cannot make these accusations child abuse, grooming and pedophilia without having any consequences.”
Hunt is not asking for a specific monetary award, instead leaving it up to a jury to decide, according to Courthouse News.
“She was threatened with death. She was told that her genitalia should be cut off, she had her address posted online telling people to about her child. This is serious,” Morfeld said. “We are going to be asking the jury what kind of monetary value would you put on your reparation as a mother that experienced this kind of harassment and physical threats to their life and their child’s life.”
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