Keegan D. | Red Phoenix correspondent | Illinois–

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.

We now know that the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson, was in fact a white cisgender man raised in a conservative Christian family and was given access to firearms throughout his childhood. At the time of writing, Robinson’s political views are unclear, but the alleged engravings on the bullets point to certain accelerationist or nihilist politics common popular amongst those groomed by neo-Nazi and white supremacist terrorist groups such as the Temple of Blood, 764, and Atomwaffen Division. These groups seek to create mass social division and confusion based on racial and gender lines in order to advance their supremacist politics through acts of violence, and have influenced shooters from the 2022 Buffalo New York shooting, all the way to more recent acts like the August mass shooting at a Minnesota Catholic Church and the school shooting in Colorado which occurred the same day as Charlie Kirk’s death.

What little of Robinson’s internet and text history has been revealed has complicated the story, with several messages pointing to a potential relationship between Robinson and his roommate, however these messages may have also been meant to sow confusion themselves. Additionally, these messages are undated and without a timestamp, are written in an extremely uncharacteristic fashion for a young adult of Robinson’s age, and it is unclear if some messages from the conversation have been omitted, leading many to question their authenticity. Further confusion about Robinson’s political views and a lack of trust in the investigation is being fueled by both Utah and Federal authorities, including Donald Trump and Kash Patel who seem intent on using Kirk’s death to push their transphobic and racist agenda. 

What is clear in this sea of manufactured confusion intentionally being encouraged by capitalist media is that the shooting allegedly committed by Robinson gives absolutely no justification for the spreading of erroneous myths about transgender gun violence, or carrying out political and direct violence against transgender people and queer communities. If those who are clutching their pearls in the wake of Kirk’s death genuinely cared about preventing erroneous unproductive political violence, it is the reactionary right wing to which they should turn their attention.

Adherents to right-wing ideologies are 68% more likely to commit acts of violence in the United States, and adherents to right-wing ideology have committed over six times the number of politically-motivated murders since 1975 when compared to the left wing. Anyone familiar with this data knows that claims that transgender people are overrepresented participants in political violence are laughable at best and a provocation at worst. The real threat of violence the American people face is from fascists sitting behind keyboards in basements and oak desks in government offices. 

Historically, queer and transgender people have been some of the first targets of the rise of fascism, and it is important to recognize that the harmful myths coming out about transgender people today represent yet another sign of the dangerous consolidation of fascist power in the United States. All members of the working class must recognize that present-day attacks against the transgender community — and other targets including immigrants, people of color, and all LGBTQ+ people — will be attacks against the whole of the working class as capitalism falls farther into crisis and fascists cement their political power. The working class as a whole cannot allow reactionary distortions to fracture our movement and put a target on the back of our transgender coworkers, neighbors, and friends. To defend against attacks on the transgender community is to defend against attacks on every oppressed community. 

Categories: Discrimination, LGBTQIA+, U.S. News