This van was testing kids for COVID-19, not queerness

In the video, a line of masked children queues in front of a black van parked in a crosswalk. Large, partially obscured white lettering on the van’s side appears to read "TESTING." 

Five years ago, the scene likely would have seemed foreign and confusing. In 2023, after years of mask wearing and mobile COVID-19 testing centers, it harks back to the coronavirus pandemic. 

But a social media user who recently shared the footage never mentions COVID-19.

"‘Queer testing’ kids without parental approval," read the text added to the video, shared July 19 on Facebook. "Testing involves clothing removal."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

(Screenshot from Facebook.)

The kids shown in the video are accompanied by adults, who are also masked. The person recording the video, who is not visible, addresses those adults: "Do the parents know that you’re doing this to the kids?"

He receives no immediate answer and repeatedly asks about parental consent forms as a woman in blue medical scrubs greets the kids at the front of the line. At one point, an adult responds to the video-recording person, saying, "I don’t know who you are." 

Neither the video nor the caption explain what is meant by "queer testing," and we found nothing to suggest such a test exists.

The video lacks distinct markers that would help identify where it was filmed, but information written on the van offers important clues. 

On the passenger door, there is a rainbow letter Q, and white letters near the top of the van read, "www.labq.com." 

PolitiFact visited the web address and found the site belongs to LabQ Diagnostics, a company providing lab tests including bloodwork and COVID-19 screening. The red, orange, green and blue Q is the company’s logo. 

Featured Fact-check

Joe Biden

stated on March 26, 2024 in a speech

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Using that information and a reverse-image search, PolitiFact found that the same video was previously shared April 29, 2022. 

The videos are the same, but the added text differs greatly. 

"School in NJ tests children for COVID without parental consent … " read text on the 2022 video.

(Screenshot from TikTok.)

Our reverse-image search also turned up pictures of similar COVID-19 testing vans with signs that more clearly show LabQ Diagnostics was offering COVID-19 testing, not any other testing.

2:07pm LabQ van Albee square on person waiting to be tested. pic.twitter.com/ZKI5cxkxPJ

— CityMDline (mainly Boerum Hill Brooklyn) (@CityMDline) April 4, 2022

2:27pm LabQ van Albee square 1 person being tested. pic.twitter.com/KqeLsnTo12

— CityMDline (mainly Boerum Hill Brooklyn) (@CityMDline) April 12, 2022

PolitiFact reached out to LabQ Diagnostics but did not hear back in time of publication.

A video shared on Facebook claimed a van was "queer testing" kids without parents’ consent. 

Markers on the van show it belongs to LabQ Diagnostics, which conducts COVID-19 testing. The same video was shared in April 2022 with different text that said students were being tested for COVID-19. 

We rate this claim Pants on Fire!

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.