What about the backlash to mostly peaceful trans?On Wednesday afternoon, the RCMP identified the shooter in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., as an 18-year-old transgender woman who lived in the small community and had a history of mental-health issues.
But before the shooter was even identified, speculation around their gender identity was proliferating across social media.
Since the RCMP, in an emergency alert on Tuesday, described the shooter as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” prominent American right-wing influencers, social-media accounts and Reddit communities quickly spread and amplified anti-trans rhetoric.
On X, Elon Musk reacted to and shared several posts to his 234 million followers that falsely claimed trans people are the most likely to commit mass shootings.
LibsofTikTok, an American far-right, anti-LGBTQ account with more than 4.6 million followers on X, has posted several transphobic messages and reposted derogatory memes. Daily Wire commentator Matt Walsh and Andy Ngo, a commentator and editor of the Canadian conservative news website The Post Millennial, have also posted inflammatory comments that villainize the shooter’s gender identity. In replies to these posts, users posted photos of trans people unrelated to the shooting.
Some in the trans community are concerned the online vitriol could lead to further stigmatization and a rise in anti-trans violence.
“The unfortunate reality is that there’s this targeted misinformation campaign that’s been unfolding for years,” said Tre’vell Anderson, the executive director of the U.S.-based Trans Journalists Association.
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