I've read so many stories about how some social services workers in conservative states weaponize sexual orientation and gender identity against queer people.

Your story really brings it home.

The social worker who interviewed you did indeed just want to make you look weird to the judge.

That reminds me of the time my Australian partner was entering the United States after leaving for the purpose of acquiring a visa extension for Canada. (Long story, won't bore you with the details.)

Anyway, a border agent searched his luggage and discovered a spiked dog collar — a gag gift I had given him.

My partner should not have said anything, but he casually told the agent that he was gay and the collar was for him and not for a dog. He didn't bother to explain that he didn't actually wear it, that it was just my elaborate sense of humor. (Again, a long story.)

Anyway, the agent made a very negative comment about "gay fetishes" in my partner's immigration file and shared it with Immigration Canada —which we later learned when he was applying for permanent residency in Canada.

The agent was trying to weaponize my partner's queerness, trying to make him look weird to tank his immigration chances.

It didn't work in the case of Canada, where my (now former) partner eventually became a citizen. But for many years he was hassled when trying to enter the U.S., and sometimes he was turned away.

Because somebody weaponized his queerness against him.