Summary
Them magazine op-ed from Fight for the Future (Anna Bonesteel) targeting the 38 Democratic senators co-sponsoring KOSA during Pride Month 2024. Centers direct quotes from LGBTQ+ youth (Jay 17, Atticus 16, Felix 15, Anonymous 16) about the role online communities played in their survival. Argues KOSA replays FOSTA’s harm pattern and catalogs the Heritage Foundation / Project 2025 / Blackburn explicit statements of intent to use KOSA against trans content.
Key Points
- 38 Democratic senators on KOSA cosponsor list (2024).
- Rep. Marsha Blackburn on record: wants to use KOSA to protect minors “from the transgender.”
- Heritage Foundation / Project 2025 explicitly targeting KOSA as anti-LGBTQ lever.
- Even with 2024 amendments (dropping “grooming” language etc.), structural flaw remains: platforms over-censor LGBTQ content to avoid liability.
- No real distinction between KOSA’s “we don’t require age verification” and its practical requirement that platforms know user ages to comply.
- Sens. Ron Wyden, Frank Pallone, Maxwell Frost flagged as among few Democrats opposing.
- Youth testimony section — four direct quotes — is the editorial center of the piece.
Newsletter Angles
- The Pride-month hypocrisy frame: Democratic senators marching in parades while cosponsoring KOSA. This is the sharpest political contradiction in the LGBTQ-legislation space.
- Youth voice as primary source: the testimonies (Jay, Atticus, Felix, Anonymous) are usable as primary quotes in any future newsletter piece.
- The Heritage Foundation admission: opponents don’t have to speculate about intent — supporters of the bill have stated the goal. Useful as the “they told us what they’d do” argument.
Entities Mentioned
- Fight for the Future — Anna Bonesteel
- Marsha Blackburn
- Heritage Foundation
- Project 2025
- Ron Wyden (D-OR)
- Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
- Maxwell Frost (D-FL)
- Federal Trade Commission
Concepts Mentioned
- KOSA
- Duty of care
- FOSTA
- Age verification
- Fan fiction communities / AO3
- LGBTQ+ youth online communities
Quotes
Youth testimonies:
“I would’ve never realized I was being sexually abused when I was 10-13 if it wasn’t for people sharing their experience with sexual abuse online.” — Atticus, 16
“I would be fucking dead right now if it weren’t for the stories of my fellow transgender folk out there, assuring me that it gets better.” — Anonymous, 16
Notes
Advocacy op-ed from Fight for the Future; should be read alongside their earlier Vice/Teen Vogue op-eds which make the same argument with different framings. The youth quotes are the reusable editorial asset.