Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA.) falsely accused a Tennessee town of banning homosexuality in public.
This week, Newsom took to social media to highlight a story published by the New Republic. However, he missed the mark of mentioning the actual facts of the article.
"A city in Tennessee has banned being gay in public. This is just the beginning," Newsom wrote on X, linking to the New Republic story that claims the city council of Murfreesboro, Tenn., "passed [an] ordinance essentially prohibiting homosexuality in public to try to ban library books."
A city in Tennessee has banned being gay in public.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) November 16, 2023
This is just the beginning. We have to call this out. https://t.co/0G1i7dKTgp
However, in reality, the city only passed an ordinance that banned "indecent behavior," including lewd behavior, nudity, sexual conduct, and "indecent materials and events."
The ordinance does not mention homosexuality but to "promote public decency, maintain family-friendly environments in public places, and protect against harm to minors from public expressions appealing to prurient interests or that are offensive to prevailing community standards."
The New Republic's claim that the ordinance bans "being gay" only applies to a cross reference of a 1949 city code provision that defines sexual conduct as "acts of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals."
In October, the city's lawmakers changed that provision to remove the mention of homosexuality— a month before the New Republic ran its story.
Newsom's tweet was "community noted," which technically is a community-run fact-checking service by the platform.
Many users criticized the Democrat's post, saying he "intentionally" misled the public.
Tennessee: You can’t have sex in public
— The Redheaded libertarian (@TRHLofficial) November 17, 2023
Gavin Newsom: OH SO YOU CANT BE GAY WOW
California has the most illegal aliens and mass shootings of any state in the country.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) November 16, 2023
Why doesn’t Gavin Newsom deal with the problems in his own state before interfering in others?
Newsom's false tweet comes a month after he signed legislation that requires K-12 California students to take internet media literacy courses that teach how "online misinformation has posed risks to international peace, interfered with democratic decisionmaking, and threatened public health."