Transgender

For the last several years reactionary conspiracy theorists have spread the dangerous lie that transgender people are disproportionately responsible for political violence and gun violence in general. This deception, based on a gross misrepresentation of gun violence statistics and widespread lies surrounding the background of certain infamous mass shooters, has resulted in direct violence against transgender people and the rise of fascist politicians across the country.

Unfortunately, in the wake of the killing of the far-right propagandist Charlie Kirk on Sep. 10, lies about transgender and “left-wing” violence have reached a new mainstream prominence and bolstered transphobic fascist rhetoric across the bourgeois media landscape. Kirk was discussing the very topic as he was killed. To make things worse, immediately following the killing, many jumped to guess the identity of the shooter with little actual evidence available. Kirk’s colleagues and allies speculated that the shooter must have been either transgender, an immigrant, or a member of a left-wing political organization (if not all three) and quickly wove existing transphobic myths about gun violence into their narratives. In times like these, when fascist attacks against transgender and other LGBTQ+ people are intensifying, progressive forces must stand up to fight back against the lies and organize to defend these communities.