Radar Watchlist: Queer Northshore
- RADAR News
- 32 minutes ago
- 4 min read
In St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, a sinister operation is infiltrating schools, libraries, and family spaces under the guise of “inclusion.” Queer Northshore, a nonprofit founded in 2022 by “trans, queer, and non-binary” teacher Mel Manuel and Democratic Party operative Jeremy JF Thompson, claims to build community. In reality, it is a blueprint for cultural takeover: a calculated assault on childhood innocence.
In just three years, Queer Northshore has staged more than 150 events, launched the Northshore’s first Pride parade, and stacked its board with activists who wield direct access to institutions that shape children. This is not community building. This is institutional capture, designed to subvert children and undermine parental rights.
Mel Manuel (they/them) is a public school teacher, self-described activist parent, and failed Democratic candidate who challenged Rep. Steve Scalise in 2024, grabbing 24% in a conservative stronghold. The campaign centered on “LGBTQ+ rights” and “gender-affirming care”: sterilizing minors with hormones and surgeries, while smearing child-protection laws as “anti-LGBTQ.” Manuel railed against Louisiana’s nine safeguarding laws, calling them discriminatory, while promoting sterilization as “healthcare.” Beyond politics, Manuel publicly fantasized about building “adult playgrounds,” showing the sick undertones driving this very disturbing branch of activism.
The campaign’s most shocking moment came in October 2024 when Manuel posted a political ad injecting testosterone on camera. Wearing a “My Body My Choice” T-shirt, Manuel declared, “The toxic forces of fear and hatred are threatening to consume our nation... I believe that you, not the government, own your own body. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights.” For a teacher, this was not just reckless. It was a dangerous stunt, accessible to kids online, that advertised chemical mutilation as empowerment.
Queer Northshore claims to provide “educational programming, informational resources, and community events.” In reality, it’s a political front: infiltration, recruitment, and the normalization of radical gender ideology. Its leadership is stacked with radicals who bridge activism and institutions that shape children. Manuel is the figurehead: a trans-queer teacher, political candidate, child castration advocate, and activist parent. Thompson is co-founder, Louisiana Democratic Party vice chair, and digital strategist. Leyla Hekmatdoost is both a public school teacher and a parenting educator at St. Tammany Health, teaching classes for infants like “Cuddle Buddies.” Erica Radosta brands herself a “late-in-life queer” solo mom, pushing ideology in parenting spaces. Marc Settembrino, a sociology professor and drag queen known as “Tuffy Love,” uses his campus position to promote sexualized “queer joy” events. Teachers, parents, drag performers, party officials, all woven together into a pipeline stretching from classrooms and hospitals into living rooms. Each figure holds a position that gives them direct influence over children or families. This is not accidental. It is a deliberate strategy to place activists where they can reshape programs, policy, and environments from the inside out.
Queer Northshore’s programs show the same pattern. Its “Peer Support Group” is technically 18+, but organizers have openly promised to “provide a space for those under 18 in the future” and announced plans to lower the age bar once the group is larger, normalizing adult-child mixing under the banner of “support.” The “Queer Northshore Social,” formerly called “Two Beer Queers,” is now hosted at McClain’s Pizzeria, a child-friendly space where minors are exposed to adult queer discussions. Its book club, run by library manager Jenny Smith, is tied directly to Manuel’s St. Tammany Library Alliance, an activist coalition fighting to keep pornographic LGBTQ+ books in children’s sections while shutting parents out of the process. Pride parades and block parties are marketed as “family-friendly” yet regularly feature drag queens and sexualized performances in full view of children. Even the group’s business directory funnels families toward queer-aligned services, while its merchandise spreads activist slogans like “QNS PRIDE” into homes.
On paper, Queer Northshore’s bylaws claim neutrality: no profits, no political endorsements. In practice, Manuel used its network of events and visibility to amplify the 2024 congressional campaign. The nonprofit’s infrastructure served as a launchpad for cultural and political takeover. Through classroom influence, Pride parades, and online stunts, Queer Northshore delivers a clear message to children: mutilation is liberation, drag is joy, parents are the enemy. Children are being groomed to embrace medical experimentation, sexualized entertainment, and defiance of parental authority.
Manuel’s campaign platform celebrated “gender-affirming care” while dismissing risks like infertility and lifelong regret. The supposed push for “LGBTQ+ rights” included abolishing single-sex spaces, demanding male access to girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. On Title IX, Manuel’s platform implied support for males competing in female categories, undermining fairness and integrity in girls’ athletics. They celebrated drag as “queer joy,” endorsing sexualized performances for children under the guise of “family-friendly” Pride. As spokesperson for the St. Tammany Library Alliance, Manuel fought to keep sexually explicit queer books in children’s sections, painting parental objections as “hate” while pushing policies that sideline families from decisions about their children’s exposure to gender ideology.
Manuel railed against “471 anti-LGBTQ laws” nationwide, showing this agenda is not local. Their mission is to turn Louisiana into a sanctuary state for “gender-affirming care.” By stacking boards, infiltrating schools, and normalizing drag and hormones for kids, Queer Northshore is laying the groundwork for legalized kidnapping.
The blueprint is written. The receipts are public. The evidence is on full display. Queer Northshore has officially been added to our Watchlist. You're on our radar, Mel Manuel. Louisiana parents must demand investigations, enforce child-protection laws, and take back their schools, libraries, and communities before more children are lost to this movement.
References
Thank you to Phil and our Research Team, led by Mandy, whose work allows us to deliver robust investigations and well-sourced reporting.
Ballotpedia. Mel Manuel. https://ballotpedia.org/Mel_Manuel
Manuel, M. Melville Manuel [Facebook page]. Facebook.
MSN. This candidate is taking on Congress with a political ad showing HRT injection.
Queer Northshore. Business directory.
Queer Northshore. Queer Northshore home.
St. Tammany Health System. Parenting center.