The only "rabid push", with actual force, namely that of law, seems to be about making life harder for these tiny groups, as is happening in "conservative" states.
Maybe people can't believe so much legislative hate is directed at a group of people that barely even registers in the census.
More likely they think "this is all over the news all the time; these groups must be fairly large."
Less than it has to do with you seeing woke boogeymen lurking in every shadow.