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SMNTY Classics: What is KOSA and Why is it so Scary?

April 6, 2026·55 min·4 clips

Joey ties KOSA to right-wing efforts to eliminate trans people online, quoting the Heritage Foundation's explicit goals.

The scary part is the framing. The host begins with a Vice article and its reporting on Patrick Truman, including his past work with the American Family Association and the Family Research Council. Through the article, those organizations are described as far-right Christian groups designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBTQ hate groups. So, yes, the warning lights are flashing. From there, the episode follows the pattern behind legislation that sells itself as protecting children from abuse or trafficking. The host is not brushing those harms aside. She says trafficking and child abuse are real and should be addressed, which is part of why this framing bothers her so much. The issue is the bait and switch. A bill can borrow the moral weight of child safety while steering attention toward sexuality, reproductive health care, or LGBTQ+ life. In a post-QAnon America, she argues, language about kids and trafficking needs careful reading because it can cover a different agenda. The LGBTQ+ impact comes first because she sees it as the most obvious use case right now, and probably where the bill would be used earliest. Then the episode widens out. The same politics show up in claims that learning about racism is inappropriate for children. Florida is the example, with the host pointing to an article about AP psychology becoming nearly impossible to teach there because of the Don't Say Gay bill. The segment is angry, but it is not just venting. It asks listeners to notice when protective language starts shrinking what people can know, say, teach, and look for.

As heard by us

A pointed warning about KOSA, child-safety politics, and the speech that could get swept into the net.

KOSA is framed as more than a child-safety bill: it becomes a warning about how language around abuse, trafficking, and protecting kids can be used to justify broader control over speech.

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Why you'd press play

If a bill is sold as protecting kids, this episode shows how that framing can hide something broader.

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