Transphobia Is Not Safety

We join the rest of the world in grief and shock at the horrific mass shooting at Covenant Elementary. Incomprehensible tragedies like this one have become all too common in the United States, and we owe it to the victims, their families, and each other to honestly address the root causes that lead to mass shootings.

Disturbingly, we have noticed that instead of letting people mourn and reflect on the causes of mass gun violence, far-right groups and lawmakers are preying on our country’s collective grief to further stoke outrage, fear, and stigma against trans people. As Americans try to figure out how to move forward and prevent further violence to our children and communities, we want to educate you on how transphobes will try to lull you into supporting their hateful agenda.

In the coming days and weeks, we expect that transphobes with political influence will exploit this tragedy to convince the public of one thing: that there is safety in hatred. They’ll use a variety of tactics to manipulate and train the American people on how to more broadly accept transphobia, including:

• Attempting to pass off as fact negative stereotyping of trans people as mentally unstable, violent, and predatory.
• Encouraging discrimination and aggression against trans people.
• Celebrating harmful policies and laws that restrict the rights and freedoms of trans people.
• Normalizing misgendering, deadnaming, and the stigmatization of trans people
• Portraying trans identity as a dangerous illness that needs to be “cured,” “fixed,” or “eradicated.”

With these lies and deceitful tactics, transphobes hope to distract from the very real threat of gun violence. Instead, they want vulnerable people to find comfort in hate.

Here are the facts that they don’t want you to focus on:

• Preventing school mass shootings requires frank conversations and policies on gun violence, mental health, and supporting our schools.
• Being transgender isn’t a risk factor for committing violence.
• No one is made safer by transphobia.

The people spreading transphobic misinformation are counting on the public to be too shocked, confused, and upset to notice how they are being manipulated.

But we know that just because people are grieving doesn’t mean they can’t think for themselves. We also trust that despite these attempts to distract and divide, people are more intelligent, strong, and compassionate than transphobes believe.

We encourage everyone to share information and resources to help dispel lies and misinformation: 

• Get the Facts: The Truth About Transition-Related Care for Transgender Youth
• Myths and Facts: Battling Disinformation About Transgender Rights
• Transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime