Missouri GOP secretary of state candidate burns LGBTQ books in online video

A Republican running for Missouri secretary of state on Tuesday posted a campaign video of herself lighting LGBTQ-inclusive books on fire to underscore her pledge to “burn” such books.

Valentina Gomez, appearing with a flamethrower in hand, said in the video posted to various social media platforms, “This is what I will do to the grooming books when I become secretary of state.”

The video then cut to her lighting multiple books on fire with the flamethrower before she said, “These books come from a Missouri public library. When I’m in office, they will burn.”

In her post of the video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Gomez wrote, “When I’m Secretary of State, I will BURN all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children. MAGA. America First.”

The two books in the video appeared to be “Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens” and “Naked: Not Your Average Sex Encyclopedia.”

Marke Bieschke, a co-author of “Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens,” reacted to the video on X, writing, “She is burning my book in public to get votes, not fascist or scary at all!”

Kathy Belge, the book’s other co-author, said in a statement to The Hill that it shouldn’t come as a surprise that “extremism is on the rise.”

“Book banning is dangerous and book burning takes it to a whole new scary level,” Belge wrote. “All Americans should be concerned that a candidate for public office not only thinks book burning is acceptable, but that it is something that will help her get elected.”

Belge pointed to a study from the Trevor Project, which found 41 percent of LGBTQ+ teens have seriously considered suicide. The figure increases to 50 percent for trans and nonbinary youth.

The Hill has reached out to the author of the second burned title.

The video on X had nearly 973,000 views, 987 reposts and more than 3,300 comments as of Wednesday night.

The visibility of the post on X was restricted at one point, with a note that it “may violate X’s rules against Hateful Conduct,” NBC News reported. The note appeared to be removed as of Wednesday night.

“@elonmusk thank you for protecting free speech. We are back from censorship,” Gomez wrote on X. “God Bless our children, God Bless America. Can’t give those leftist an inch!” She tagged Argentinian populist leader Javier Milei, conservative podcaster Tim Pool, conservative comedians Keith and Kevin Hodge — known as the Hodgetwins — and X user @ALX, who earlier wrote the content shouldn’t be flagged as hateful content.

According to Gomez’s campaign website, she is a real estate investor, financier, strategist and “fierce advocate for the principles values we hold dear as Americans battling for a better future.” She is based in St. Louis and is 24 years old.

The video drew comparisons to Nazi book-burning incidents, when university students burned more than 25,000 books across Germany as part of the Nazis’ campaign against “un-German” expression, per PBS.

Gomez’s campaign website lays out multiple visions she has for office, including the protection of children “against the transgender agenda.”

“Valentina vehemently opposes subjecting children under 18 to transgender-related medical procedures, therapies, treatments, prescriptions, and exposure. The physical and emotional scars endured by our young ones in the name of the transgender industry are unacceptable and must be halted,” her campaign website states.

Her other policy goals include the “protection” of sports, with her website confirming she “stands by the prohibition of biological boys participating in girls’ sporting events, ensuring a level playing field for girls/women.”

She also supports transparency for parents to be aware of their child’s school curriculum.

Books featuring LGBTQ content have been disproportionately targeted for bans in U.S. schools and libraries, while more than a dozen states have laws to restrict the ways gender and sexuality is discussed and taught in classrooms.

Some proponents of restricting LGBT-inclusive books and curricula, like Gomez, have argued exposing children to such material constitutes “grooming,” a claim LGBT advocates say feeds into a false trope casting members of the community as pedophiles.

Gomez is among at least four candidates running for the Republican nomination for Missouri secretary of state. The Republican primary for this office will be held on Aug. 6, per Ballotpedia.