Anti-LGBTQ movements have gone through different phases in the United States as they have targeted homosexuality generally, same-sex marriage, and same-sex adoption. Despite the increasing acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ identities over the past twenty years, this anti-LGBTQ movement continues today, targeting what kids learn about in schools and LGBTQ youth generally. In this thesis, I research how opponents of LGBTQ rights frame their arguments in order to appeal to a more tolerant American public. Specifically, I analyze the rhetoric of anti-LGBTQ curriculum policies and anti-LGBTQ activism from 2022 and from an earlier period spanning from the 1970s to the early 2000s. I find that both policies and activism have changed their rhetoric to become more queerblind – intentionally avoiding terms or assigning value to LGBTQ identities. This queerblind theory is further developed by looking at how scholars have analyzed racially colorblind rhetoric that is more prevalent in modern-day racism and rhetoric. I argue that queerblind rhetoric has become more prevalent due to a more tolerant public and due to queerblindness being a more politically strategic opposition to the LGBTQ rights movement. </p
