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Notes -
It's certainly unclear whether it was just activists making that claim versus it being widely accepted in the anti-gay community. I find it more likely that people hated the gays first (while understanding their existence) and came up with rationalizations second.
I think there's also a nuance in the understanding in that they can believe that someone can be brainwashed into actually being gay, and actually legitimately enjoying the feeling of guzzling cock. But anti-trans will believe that nobody can be trans. Their claim is that trans people literally cannot exist and trans identifying people are simply brainwashed into participating in self mutilation. That trans identifying people won't be happy about it, but won't be able to speak up while being imprisoned by ideology and a destroyed body.
I think the fact that Anti-Gay campaigns were titled things like "Save Our Children" suggests that at the very least, the leaders of the anti-gay community in the 1970's thought concerns about gays "recruiting" kids were widespread in the anti-gay community. While I am hardly effort posting, "anti-gay activists at the time acted like the public believed this" is some sort of evidence about the state of public concerns, whereas you are purely speculating based on your own intuitions.
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