A Republican Party candidate in Missouri has used a flamethrower to torch LGBTQ books.
The explosive quest saw 24-year-old Valentina Gomez attempt to rid local libraries of books which allegedly look to “groom” children.
Gomez, who is running for Missouri’s Secretary of State, shared a 21-second video on social media.
She said: “This is what I will do to the grooming books when I become Secretary of State.
Valentina Gomez, who is running for Missouri’s Secretary of State, shared a 21-second video on social media
Valentina Gomez
“The books come from a Missouri Public Library when I’m in office they will burn.”
Gomez is running in the Grand Old Party’s primary against ex-State Senator Denny Hoskins, former official Caleb Rowden, Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller and ex-State Representative Adam Schwadron.
'Naked: Not Your Average Sex Encyclopedia' written by Myriam Daguzan Bernier was one of the books burned.
It is described by Amazon as “essential reading” that will provide “answers to questions about sexuality that teens have always had but have been afraid to ask”.
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Valentina Gomez is running for Missouri’s Secretary of State
Valentina Gomez
The other book propped up for Gomez to burn was Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens.
More than 2.4 million social media users viewed Gomez’s explosive video.
LGBTQ literature has become increasingly polarising in the US.
Illinois and Massachusetts police were called last year when teachers were reading books about gender identity and sexuality in middle school classrooms.
Federal judges in Iowa have blocked laws that ban some books from school libraries and prevent teachers from discussing LGBTQ issues.
Florida has also blocked in-class discussions of gender and sexuality.
Book banning has been well-documented on the other side of the pond, with 1,600 being blocked during the 2021/22 academic year.
More than half of the banned and challenged books were LGBTQ related.
Efforts to ban books books in the US hit a record high in 2022, the American Library Association has claimed.