Fact check: Pedophilia comment from Rep. Katie Porter misrepresented in viral clip

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
·3 min read
168
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The claim: Rep. Katie Porter said pedophilia is an identity

Following a mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado that left five dead, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on Dec. 14 to discuss anti-LGBTQ extremism. Some social media users are misrepresenting a congresswoman’s remarks made at the hearing.

A Dec. 16 Instagram post (direct link, archived link) shows a C-SPAN clip of Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., in which she says, “this allegation of ‘groomer’ and of ‘pedophile,' it is alleging that a person is criminal somehow, and engaged in criminal acts, merely because of their identity.”

Text above that clip reads, "Rep Kati Porter, D, says pedophilia isn't a crime – it's an identity.”

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

The post generated more than 500 likes in less than a week. A similar tweet shared by Libs of TikTok, a popular conservative account that has previously shared misinformation, generated more than 23,000 likes. Similar posts have spread widely on Instagram.

But the claim is baseless.

Porter's comments were about social media posts labeling LGBTQ members as pedophiles and groomers, the full text of her remarks shows. In the video clip highlighted in the social media post, she never says pedophilia is an identity.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.

Porter's words misrepresented in clip

Porter did not say that pedophilia is an identity and not a crime, Jordan Wong, Porter's spokesperson, told USA TODAY in an email. The original video footage confirms this as well.

The Instagram clip cuts off a longer exchange between Porter and Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group. Porter references the organization’s report analyzing tweets that falsely identify LGBTQ members as groomers, or individuals who exploit children.

Fact check: False claim that Donald Trump can be reinstated by Moore v. Harper SCOTUS ruling

Porter asked Robinson if Twitter allows posts calling LGBTQ people "groomers." Robinson said that while Twitter has community guidelines, “it’s about holding users accountable to those guidelines, and acknowledging that when we use phrases and words like ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles’ to describe people ... it’s dangerous."

Porter then said:

"So, I mean, I think you’re absolutely right. And it’s not, you know, this allegation of ‘groomer’ and of ‘pedophile,’ it is alleging that a person is criminal somehow, and engaged in criminal acts, merely because of their identity, their sexual orientation, their gender identity. So this is clearly prohibited under Twitter’s content. Yet you found hundreds of these posts on the platform."

Nowhere in the clip does Porter state that pedophilia is an identity and not a crime.

CNN, the Associated Press, VERIFY and PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Porter said pedophilia is an identity. Porter said alleging an LGBTQ person is a pedophile or groomer is alleging that they are engaged in criminal activity simply because of their identity, according to her full remarks with Robinson. She never said that pedophilia is an identity..

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Pedophilia comment misrepresented in viral clip